Inescapable
by LeaNicolaie
Summary: AU Kaname would do anything to protect Yuuki, but who will protect him in turn? Would things be different if he had someone to truly trust and support him during those ten years? ZK
1. Chapter 1

_Inescapable_

Part I

"_My blood is your blood; and with it, I give you my everything…"_

_. . .  
_

"Hanabusa-sama, your lessons…" A thin teenage vampire looked worried by the door, eyes darting back and forth from down the hall to the small from of her young master looking intently down at a chessboard, refusing to move.

"I want to play with Kaname-sama!" The blond demanded, bright blue eyes still on the game pieces, knowing if he just had five more minutes, he would find the solution to getting another step further towards victory.

The brunet sitting across from him tilted his head. "Aidou, you should go to your lessons." He advised. "My father tells me knowledge is power, and if you miss your lessons, you'll be missing out on your education," he recited.

"But Kaname-sama…"

"Ruka told me she made a perfect score on one of her exams," the pureblood remarked off-handedly, poking at one of the pawns he had captured. "She was very happy about it."

"I can do better than Ruka, Kaname-sama! I'll show you one of my tests too!" With a new goal in mind, the blond swiftly stood up and practically flew out of his room, face set with stubborn determination.

The attendant by the door blinked and looked down the hall where her young master had rushed down before turning back to the pureblood still sitting on the rug. "Thank you, Kaname-sama," she bowed lightly with a smile, "Should you need anything, please feel free to call." She gently closed the door after her, leaving the brunet to hum in amusement.

Now…what to do, he wondered. With his host off to fulfilling his academic duties, he had an extra few hours on his hands. Sweeping the room around him with disinterest, he meandered towards the window, eying the eerily calm weather. Not even a breeze seemed to have the courage to pass through, the few leaves still daring to hang on to gnarly branches motionless under the light of the moon.

It was, "quiet," he whispered, his dark eyes lowered to the grounds below. His father had told him of such nights; dark and still with an air of unsettling familiarity and comfort, making his brows crease with the contradictory emotions. A part of him delighted in the unease Mother Nature seemed frightened enough to show, and another part of him took to fear and caution at what might be the cause of that unease.

Tracing the small round moon with a finger against the window, he watched as the glass fogged from the warmth of his breath. "A full moon," he murmured. They tended to shed light on things usually unseen during any other night. Or day. "What are we waiting on?" He thought aloud. Something was coming.

"Kaname…"

Jerked out of his thoughts, he turned around, lowering his hand. "…Father?"

Haruka sent him a bemused smile from the doorway. "Are you all right? You seemed pretty involved with the window."

He smiled back, now feeling a bit sheepish. "The weather is strange."

The older pureblood nodded, his eyes sparing a quick glance behind his son. "You're right, of course," he said, though he looked more contemplative than worried, "something is coming."

. . .

Or rather...something was calling him. Slipping from his bed with the quiet rustle of sheets, Kaname pulled on his favorite fluffy robe, slipped his pale little feet into warm slippers, and padded out the front door.

Squinting, he realized it was early yet, for young vampires like himself to be awake. Evening was some ways away, the sun's rays still lingering over the sky in shades of orange and red. He also supposed taking a walk in his current attire would gain amused, if not disproving looks from his parents, but gave a light shrug and moved on.

Focused on simply placing one foot in front of the other, he didn't bother to keep track of how far he'd walked, which turns he made, or how far he was from his home. He had a destination, a place to reach, no matter how vague the directions, and everything else came after. The emotions calling out to him overrode anything else. It was the despair and resignation that tugged at his heart, the heavy unmistakable taint of death and remorse pulling at his mind, that had him moving, his feet padding along as though with a will of their own.

When the sky had turned dark, and his slippers muddied and filthy, he found himself looking up at a three story manor, pale and pristine, terribly beautiful in its exquisite structure. His long walk leaving him in a daze, he took his time approaching the door, his steps slow and unhurried.

Raising his hand for the knob, he felt a familiar presence materialize at his back.

"I was afraid you might be here." Haruka murmured, smiling down at him. "Haven't I taught you it's rude to enter without being invited?" His voice gentle, he coaxed his son away with him, away from the door and back to their home.

Looking up, he sent an apologetic smile to one of the windows.

The wispy figure gazing down at them dropped the curtain, the heavy cloth swinging closed with a flutter, guarding against the outside world once more.

"Father, who is it that lives there?"

"Lives where?"

"In that big house." He gestured with his arms, spreading them wide to show how big. "White and beautiful. With long windows."

Haruka chuckled, patting his head. "Mm," he hummed, placing Kaname in his lap. "Who knows," he said with a flair of ambiguity, "a ghost perhaps."

"Ghosts aren't real, Father."

"Oh, don't be so quick to judge, Kaname," Haruka shook his finger, "you might meet one, one day, and then what'll you do? Deny what's right in front of you?" He laughed softly at the look Kaname sent him and leaned down to press his lips against silky brown curls. "But yes," he admitted quietly, "it isn't a ghost that lives there."

It wasn't until another full moon Kaname felt a second tug on his mind. Now more prepared, he changed properly into a shirt and pants, grabbing a coat on the way, and tucked his socked feet into a pair of leather ankle boots. Risking his father coming after him again, he closed the door after him, setting a moderate pace for his 'walk'.

Coming upon the same manor, he remembered his father's words and raised his fist to offer a few knocks this time, wondering if whoever was inside would be able to hear them. When no answer came forth, he held in a disappointed sigh and pressed his lips together, refusing to let one rejection affect him. He was being called here for a reason, he reassured himself, so it must be that he was somehow needed here. He raised his fist to knock once again, but hit nothing but air when the door slowly opened with a sharp click.

Taking it as an invitation to enter, he pushed it open further and stepped in, forgetting to close it behind him as he blinked at his new surroundings. There wasn't much to look at, the entryway practically empty with the exception of a furry rug and long columns.

He was much more taken with the wide staircase, its iron rails strong and delicate, coming to elegant outward curls at its end. Testing the stairs, Kaname started out slow and cautious, mindful of his steps, as though expecting a reprimand at any moment, but as the silence persisted, his small lips lifted in a smile and he rose with more confidence, soft clicks from his boots filling the stale air.

Still relying on his instincts to guide him, his eyes settled on the third door they came across, smooth and polished, with an ornate silver knob; perfect and round like the moon he was becoming intrigued by.

Reaching for it, he paused with a childish giggle, reconsidering his actions and lifting his fist to knock instead. Just as before, the mysterious 'ghost' took its time before giving an answer,

"A curious little pureblood."

The husky whisper came right by his ear, and Kaname involuntarily let out a squeak of surprise before composing himself, slowly turning around to face the owner of the alluring voice.

"…Hello."

The caller of his mind was tall, maybe even more than his father, but that was as far as similarities went. While his father had dark features to compliment his pale skin, the stranger was simply pale. His hair, his eyes, lashes, and even the piercings he could see peeking out from under a few strands of that pale hair all had the barest hint of color. He alone stood out in the unlit hall like a faint beacon, refusing to be swallowed by the darkness the lack of light induced.

_Like the moon_.

Kaname was very much entranced.

Cool assessing eyes traveled to every corner of his person before coming to rest on the far wall some feet away in a dismissive manner. The stranger turned away completely, his back to Kaname as he walked down the stairs, his figure disappearing out of sight with every descending step. The young pureblood rushed after him, going down after the stranger before blinking, seeing no sign of him. There wasn't even a scent to trace him by. As though triggered by something, Kaname was overwhelmed by a sudden irrational distance he knew wasn't right to feel for someone he didn't know. He'd never met the man before, but there was no mistaking the distinct loss he felt as the stranger walked away from him so easily. He must have offended him somehow, he decided morosely, with either his words or manners. He'd caused the stranger to be _displeased_ with him. So displeased the stranger had _left_.

The realization left him more pained than he could ever imagine being when compared to making his friends upset.

"…S-sorry…" He croaked out weakly. "I'm sorry." _I didn't mean to make you leave_.

"Who are you talking to?"

The stranger's voice came from behind him again, and Kaname quickly turned, a little dumbfounded before feeling relieved enough to let out a bright smile. "Hello!"

Pale eyes blinked down at him in bemusement. "Are all little vampires so strange?" He murmured before his expression shifted back to the cool blank mask Kaname had first seen. "You should go home." He didn't react to the sound of the front door closing and the amused tones of Haruka coming up the staircase.

"Kaname…"

"Father." Kaname smiled.

"I think you've intruded on him enough for the night, little imp." Haruka scooped him up into the folds of his arms.

"But Father, the man was—" He turned to point the tall stranger out only to be greeted with an empty hall.

When the third call came after the next full moon, Kaname, with new goals in mind, was quick to reach the manor and wasted no time in giving a few knocks. Just as his second visit, the door simply opened to let him inside, as though recognizing his presence.

He made sure to close the door after him this time, and headed straight for the third door on the second floor. Knocking it, he braced himself for a greeting from behind, but even after waiting for a few minutes, that deep whisper never came.

Against his better judgment, he reached for the knob, knowing it was terribly rude to enter without permission, but letting his curiosity put a dampener on etiquette for the moment.

_Just a peek_.

"Here again?"

Kaname gasped and whirled around to meet a pair of cold pale eyes. Quickly slipping his hand from the knob, he fidgeted guiltily. "…Hello."

"You should leave."

"But—" About to protest, he stopped short at the flat stare he received. Confused now – things didn't make any sense – he steeled himself for the question he most wanted to know the answer to. "Then…then why do you keep making me come here?"

The stranger fixed him with a long even stare. "Am I?" He murmured, more to himself than to Kaname. "No…" He reached down, hand outstretched, to gently trace the young brunet's lips with his thumb. "But…you are telling the truth," he said softly. "Still, I'm not the one who calls to you." Curiosity lighting his eyes, he leaned further down, now on his knee, and cupped both of Kaname's cheeks. His hands were surprisingly warm.

"…_He_ did so," he continued, the slightest touch of confused amazement blossoming in his tone, "for me." He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Kaname's, letting out a sigh. "That - why did he...? He knew I wouldn't..." He sounded unsure of himself. "He should've _known_…" And when the stranger leaned back and opened his eyes, Kaname watched, with not a small amount of awe and fascination, as the pale, luminescent irises bled crimson.

"He brings you here, for me, but I won't have you." He trailed over Kaname's lips with his thumb once again. "You better leave." Tilting his head, he turned to look down the stairs. "Haruka is here."

As though on cue, said pureblood's voice rang from the first floor. "Kaname?"

The stranger suddenly stood up, brows creased. "Kaname? …He named you…?" Eyes flashing, he glared down at a sheepish Haruka, who was looking between them with a smile. "You dared to…!"

"I'm not sorry for it."

The stranger's glare didn't lessen in intensity.

"We wanted to do something to honor him. We wanted to keep his memory alive somehow. He was important to us too."

Pale eyes narrowed until only slivers of glowing lilac remained. "So you gave him _his_ name?" His low voice sent shivers down Kaname's back.

Haruka simply nodded. "Isn't he cute? He's our firstborn."

The stranger snorted, but Kaname noted he no longer seemed so angry. "Whatever he looks like now, he won't be for long. All of you Kuran males are the same – great pains in the ass."

Startled by the crass insult, Kaname nearly went slack-jawed as he looked up. He'd never heard someone…well, curse like that before, especially towards his father. And the stranger's abrupt change in speech pattern took him a moment to take in. The man had seemed…more docile, when Kaname had conversed with him. Distant, curt, and a little cold, but he took time with his answers, as though measuring each word he spoke.

Haruka was hardly bothered however, laughing out loud. "Well, I won't deny that. I sometimes wonder how Juri ever puts up with me. We can't all be like Uncle. He was a content bachelor to the end."

The stranger's eyes clouded. "Was he?"

Haruka's expression softened. "Of course. If he felt for you even a fraction of what I feel for my children, I've no doubt."

Confused as to who they were referring to and upset with being left out, Kaname mumbled, "Uncle? But Mother said he was a no good mean bully."

"_What?_"

Haruka coughed. "He's talking about Rido."

The stranger blinked down at Kaname in curiosity before his lids lowered in faint amusement. "Charming, isn't he."

Haruka beamed. "He is! I bet that's why—"

"But he isn't _him_. Take him back, Haruka."

"Zero-san…"

"I don't need anyone else." The stranger, Zero-san, his name seemed to be, was quiet. His somberness was back, and the bantering attitude he had with Haruka was gone in a flash.

"You may think so, but I know he wouldn't want you to live this way." Haruka said gently, not ready to give up yet. "He wouldn't," he said more firmly as the pale man looked at him skeptically. "I bet you've no idea how long you've been here." It was enough to turn someone insane, vampire or not (he wasn't talking about a couple of measly little centuries here) and Haruka didn't doubt Zero had remained unaffected. The eerily flat disinterest he was being faced with did nothing to reassure him.

"You can speak for him all you like," Kaname watched as the stranger's tone went completely frigid. "He always listened to me in the end."

"You are acting like a spoilt child." Haruka countered. "You're sulking."

"He would let me." Zero-san said with an uncaring lift of his shoulder. "Even if I am sulking," he emphasized on the word with a hint of sarcasm, "he wouldn't have minded."

"He may not have," Haruka conceded wearily, "but not for long. He wouldn't have wanted this for you." He repeated.

"But I'll never know that, will I," Zero-san said with a final air. He obviously did not wish to continue on any further.

Kaname didn't know who 'he' was, but he could tell 'he' meant a lot to Zero-san. And maybe, just maybe, since 'he' was not here, 'he' might not be alive anymore, like what his parents said about his grandparents.

"You miss 'him'." He whispered, before he even knew his mouth was moving.

The stranger's, Zero-san's eyes turned to him then. They were pale and glowing and beautiful, but the young pureblood thought they also looked deeply empty.

Remembering the hauntingly dark emotions that had pulled him to this manor in the first place, he vaguely wondered if this wispy man were the source. A sharp inner tug that made him blink in surprise told him otherwise. Zero-san seemed the only person living here, but he was not responsible for Kaname's visits every full moon. Just as he said, he was not Kaname's 'caller'. That was someone else. It was the 'he' that his father and Zero-san kept mentioning.

Gem-like eyes were back on Haruka. "I don't want anyone else." He repeated, his voice considerably softer. "I don't care if this child has the same name." He turned away as though wanting to reject their presence, his body melting back into the darkness of the halls. "He isn't him." His voice faded, lingering long enough to reach their ears before silence took over once again.

It was another while before Kaname spoke. "Let's go home, Father."

It was the last time Kaname would see the manor or Zero-san for the next year and a half.

. . .

Thank you for reading :) Glad you made it this far XD *smooch*

Disclaimer: No own.


	2. Chapter 2

_Inescapable_

Part II

_"We'll have a new beginning, you and I..."_

. . .

Mind reeling with grief, Kaname spilled the blood tablets down his mouth like a man possessed. He gave no consideration to the concerned looks from the other noble children. They longed to draw closer to him, he knew, but even now, they kept a respectful distance, unable to bring themselves to breach protocol to approach him. Even if they wanted to offer physical comfort, it would do nothing to help him. Pats on the shoulder, lukewarm hugs or kisses would not bring his parents back. Would not bring Yuuki back.

He had lost everything in one night. Everything that mattered to him; lost and out of his reach once again. He smiled bitterly. It was a vicious cycle. It seemed not even the advantage of being purebloods saved those who grew close to him. He destroyed everything he touched. No matter what he did to protect them, things happened out of his control, and they all slipped through his fingers without him even noticing. He wondered if he himself wasn't broken beyond repair, so lost and empty as he was. He'd briefly contemplated going to sleep in an attempt to escape from it all, but knew he couldn't. Even out of his reach, he could never leave Yuuki behind. She was all he had, pureblood or not.

Catching sight of Ichijou Asato and another noble making their way through the crowd, Kaname relocated to the upper floor, gazing blankly out of the window, dropping a few more tablets down his throat. A part of him was darkly amused at catching the last snitches of conversation between the Souen girl and Kain heir, both sending him less than subtle looks nearby. Such innocence they held, he thought detachedly. Well, they weren't anything like him for a start. Of course they'd be different. They were still young, children in the truest sense, unlike himself, who was parading around in a fake shell.

Staring down at one of palms, he let out a self-deprecating twist to his lips. He didn't know what he was, in all honesty, though he was sure of what he wasn't. He wasn't the child he used to be, not since those feelings of déjà vu had increased to actual memories of another life he'd lived, thousands of years ago.

He poured more tablets onto the palm he'd been staring at, and brought it to his lips. He might not know what or who he was, but he knew what he wanted to do, and that was enough. Yuuki would stay safe, just as their parents had willed.

Giving an uncaring sweep of the simpering mass that had gathered for the dark occasion, he felt he'd had enough and slipped away, wanting to mourn in solitude, barely acknowledging Souen Ruka's reverent farewell and Kain Akatsuki's respectful nod.

But his blessed solitude was graciously interrupted by a sympathetic tug on his mind, one he hadn't felt in over a year. He'd almost forgotten, and took a moment to remember when he felt the familiar sensation. He supposed it couldn't help calling out to him now, what with the similarities in the emotions they were going through. The dark tendrils of despair and loneliness came to tangle around his mind, tearing and biting, cold and sharp.

"You want me to see him again." He murmured softly. He didn't exactly know who his caller was, but he could make an educated guess. The short conversation he could vaguely recall between the owner of that manor and his father two years ago gave him some form of idea of what had happened - both to his caller and the mysterious pale man it wanted to protect.

With their enormous well of power, purebloods could be rather tenacious, given to wandering around even after death, if they had incentive. This one was determined to see to the needs of its childe to the end. He had promised to, and would never break that promise. Just as Kaname had promised Juri he would look after Yuuki.

Though now suitably distracted from his initial plan to wallow in depression, he could see he and his caller had more than a few things in common, and decided if he could lessen the pain and guilt for one of them at least, he would do so.

Tracing his way back to the beautiful manor, pale and rigid as its owner, Kaname laid his palm across the door and waited for it to click open. Stepping inside, he saw nothing had changed to his knowledge, and slowly made his way up the stairs, mindful of the soft taps from his shoes.

Looking both ways once he reached the top, he nearly sighed as he caught sight of the familiar door, its round knob and all, and guessed he would be forced to wait until the owner, Zero-san, he absently recalled, came to him on his own.

Not a few seconds after the thought, he felt a presence materialize behind him. He inwardly noted it simply had been inexperience that had prevented him from sensing the man before. Prior to his memories as the Kuran ancestor trickling back, he wouldn't have been able to sense him.

"Here again?" Zero-san did not sound happy for a reunion. "I remember telling you to leave. Where is Haruka?" The last question was muttered with an undertone of irritation, and Kaname felt the sadness well up inside him at the sound of his father's name.

"I was called here again," he answered, "and my father is dead." He swallowed.

Cold pale eyes were immediately on him, giving a slow considering blink. "…I always thought Rido was an idiot. He wouldn't listen," his voice became thinner, "neither of them would."

Kaname simply nodded. He could see the frank insult was Zero-san's way of coping with the sudden news. He seemed to assume Juri was also dead, and he assumed correctly.

"Do you know why I was called here?"

"He's trying to meddle." Zero-san's eyes narrowed, referring to his caller. "He's an annoying pest even when he isn't here."

"Even when he's dead." Kaname interpreted.

Lips pursed at the wording, but the pale man nodded reluctantly, as though unwilling to acknowledge the single harsh truth, but knowing better than to deny the obvious.

"You should leave."

"Because you don't need anyone else?"

The stranger hardly looked pleased with having his previous demand thrown back in his face, but his silence was full of agreement. His opinion regarding another donor was still the same. He didn't want one.

"You are aware how long you've gone without blood." Kaname cautioned. It was one of the many reasons his caller was so concerned. Although Zero-san didn't need it per se, that only extended to the walls of the manor. Once outside, that protection would no longer apply, and the pale man would have to start drinking again.

"He worries for you," he could feel his caller, even now, desperate, regretful, and full of love. "This is your home, but you aren't happy here." Not truly. Living on past memories was not really living. Zero-san needed the company of live people, not echoes of those long since passed.

"You can talk to him?" The anger, jealousy, and hope all flashed by in a moment, but it was the most Kaname had seen the man express. "He's still here?"

"He is gone," Kaname shook his head. "But his presence lingers after. He knew you would not take well to his death, and has…watched over you since." It was what the young pureblood assumed. "I cannot talk to him, and the same goes for him. His presence is merely a reflection of his emotions, what he felt before he died."

The spark that'd flared in glowing pale eyes dimmed and cooled at the information, but they now gazed at Kaname speculatively. "You know more than when you were here last. Why did you come?"

"He cares for you, and I'm the only one who can do that in his place."

Full lips pulled back in a sneer. "You can't. If that is what he wants, he can shove it and you can leave."

So he was going to continue with his useless obstinacy. Kaname narrowed his eyes in frustration and annoyance at Zero-san's stubborn rejection, and allowed for his patience to slip. "He still loves you," he nearly snarled, "he holds himself back here for you when he could have simply moved on, and all you've done is stomp all over his wish for the betterment of your welfare. You dare to disrespect your sire this way?" Zero-san still had a chance to make new connections, to enjoy the world his sire had given him time for, and he continued to squander all of it by holing himself up in an empty house, pushing people away.

Kaname had no such chance. He had given all he could, did whatever was possible in his power to keep them safe, and was still alone at the end of the day. It was infuriating to see someone else give up what he tried so hard to hold onto with not even a care.

Zero-san's expression darkened, but he stayed silent.

"Is that all you came to say?" He said after a few minutes.

"Excuse me?"

"Do you even realize," he started sharply, "under all the bullshit my sire feels, all he's doing is using you for me?"

"Yes."

"And what do you get out of listening to him?"

Kaname's eyes softened as he contemplated the question. Zero-san was asking whether he was sincere in his claims to offer help or if he was using his sire's remnant feelings to achieve goals of his own.

He could build up an elaborate lie, here and now, and get Zero-san to trust him, or he could be honest and risk the chance of ever getting the other vampire out of the manor. "For my own peace of mind." He answered.

He chose to be honest.

"Your 'meddling' sire can be quite the annoyance," he said, "I should be mourning my parents, and instead I'm here on his insistence. Not to mention, your insolence leaves a lot to be desired and frays on my nerves. You act like a mule with self-appointed blindfolds – as if that's anything to be proud of – and when someone decides you might be in for a change in scenery, you throw a fit worthy of a woman on her monthlies. Which also leaves much to be desired.

"But I _have _come with the intention to help. After meeting you, I can't possibly leave your sire to suffer at your hands this way. Living here the way you do is amazingly pathetic, and I hold no pity for it. I empathize with your experiences, but I don't find your method of dealing with them at all reasonable."

Kaname himself had chosen Sleep over the unbearable _lossdespairloneliness_, and here he still was, dealing his shortcomings after thousands of years; this time in the form of the loss of his entire family. Things would never change unless _he_ changed, and the same could be said for Zero-san. The man could not remain stagnant, living out the rest of his life in isolation when he had the love of his sire riding on his shoulders.

"Hn." Zero-san grunted, eyes taking on a wholly different glint. It seemed the man had been weighing his options depending on how Kaname phrased his answer.. "If you tried to keep up the Samaritan farce you had going I would have thrown you out. I hate self-righteous bastards who think they're acting on 'justice' when all they do is shove their ideals on someone else."

"If you're going to 'care for me'," Zero-san emphasized, eyes alight with satisfaction, "I don't need any 'I'm doing it for someone else' bullcrap you don't even feel getting between us." He shifted to stick his hands in his pockets. "You came here because you wanted something. To hell with everything else."

Kaname shook his head. He'd meant what he'd said, but perhaps Zero-san was right in that underneath the 'honorable duty' guise he'd felt he was fulfilling, his actual feelings on the matter were quite selfish. "Maybe I was relieved. To feel there was someone like you and your sire, who was in a similar position." He said softly_._ "Wanting to be close to a loved one, and unable to. Being denied something so simple... I'm sure you understand what it is like. I wanted instead to think of other things, to be with someone who wasn't a reminder of my parents." This - Zero-san - was so much more than that, he was coming to realize, but he was the distraction he needed.

Zero-san nodded, silent until, "He was right then. When he said..." His voice trailed off and he lightly shook his head.

"Your sire may have used me, as a way to speak with you, but he must have realized I would be using you as well." Kaname noted. "He connected to me through my own losses, and the need to fill that loss."

"…I wouldn't mind it." Zero-san stepped forward to roughly ruffle his hair, "whatever you might think, you're a good kid."

Eyes widening, Kaname's heart stuttered before regaining its regular pace, and he quickly stepped back, inwardly balking at the sudden familiarity. Everything had been going so fast, with hardly a moment to breathe, and Zero-san had just…offered a proverbial oxygen mask with one effortless sentence.

He'd somehow managed to gain Zero-san's approval and acceptance (through listing a series of what were no better than insults), and was now unsure of what to do with it. This was unlike any of the political games he was used to. The connection between he and Zero-san happened through an exchange of personal words. It wasn't out of veiled threats or blackmail. He wasn't aiming for tactical submission by earning this vampire's respect. No, his mind was curiously apprehensive to supply, this particular connection was far deeper and harder to break, much less control.

A little lost with what he should feel or say, he simply said, "…I'm not." He…wasn't even really a child, hardly the young boy his physical appearance must be projecting. He wasn't 'good' in the sense Zero-san must be talking about.

"You are."

The non-negotiable tone had Kaname's head snapping back up. He wasn't aware the other had heard him.

"My sire's a meddling ass, but he isn't an idiot." Zero-san's tall form began to disperse. "I'll see you around—"

"Wait!" His hand shot out to grab hold of the other's dark shirt. "Where do you think you're going?" He half-heartedly demanded. "I said I wanted you with me," he stared up with what could be considered a glare, feeble as it was. "Are you going to make me wait for you again?"

When Zero-san gazed down at him blankly, he continued, "It's been almost two years since I came here." He'd been six then. Six, naïve, and ignorant of who he really was.

"I…forgot about you until today," his grip tightened. "I don't want to do that again." The pale man couldn't just _leave_ like that after making him admit to emotional dependence. It was only right for him to take some responsibility.

_He practically promised I wouldn't be alone anymore._

"…So what is it you want from me, little pureblood?"

It was obvious Zero-san wouldn't agree to anything unless Kaname was willing to state his reasons.

_Another connection._

"I want you to come with me," he tried not to cringe at how childish he sounded, "out of the manor." His lips pursed. "And my name is Kaname." _Not_ little pureblood. Zero-san had called him that before, and he held not an ounce of affection for it.

He heard a short huff of laughter above him, awkward from disuse, "Kaname it is, then," and a warm palm came to cup his cheek to further raise his head.

Pale eyes glowed, lips curved in a small, amused smile. "I can say yes to that."

Knowing better than to ask something as ridiculous as, 'Yes to what, my name or coming with me?' Kaname slowly reached up to take hold of the hand at his cheek and carefully twined their fingers together, giving a gentle tug.

The moment they started to walk, the entire manor seemed to shudder in a heartfelt sigh, as if to welcome their departure. The stale atmosphere turned richer, the chandeliers burned brighter, and the dark halls, which had previously looked as though it hadn't seen a speck of sunlight, warmed with every step they took.

"The asshole's glad to see me go," Zero-san absently explained, dry exasperation lacing his voice.

"He's glad to see you choosing life," Kaname corrected, deciding to sound the optimist in their current situation.

"With you," Zero-san added. "He always wins the crap that matters." He muttered.

"Oh?" Kaname looked up teasingly. "Have you a problem with me?"

He received a flat stare. "I don't hold hands with people I have problems with, _Kaname_."

"Be that as it may—" He cut himself off when they reached the door. Squeezing the other's hand he quietly asked, "How rabid are you going to be once we leave?"

He'd almost forgotten Zero-san was going to need blood outside of the manor. If the vampire had been inside for as long as he assumed, not even his blood would be enough to satisfy his thirst.

"Give my sire a little more credit," Zero-san squeezed back, having guessed at his thoughts. "You'll see when we get outside."

Before he could demand what he would be 'seeing' exactly, the pale man reached for the knob and casually opened the door, stepping out and tugging Kaname along with him, as if the monstrous bloodlust they all harbored wouldn't be waiting for him with fangs extended and claws sharpened.

The dim rays of the moon lit on his form and a long breathy breeze caressed smooth locks as Zero-san turned to him with an expectant look.

"The manor isn't the only reason I've lived for so long," he said softly.

Kaname felt his mind draw a white blank for a few passing seconds as he tried to wrap his mind around what his senses were telling him.

If he'd thought the pale man radiant before, it was nothing compared to what he saw now, away from the confines of the manor. It was as though he'd been looking through a pair of dulled foggy lenses. There was a healthy flush to creamy white skin, a brighter light to glowing eyes (which he observed held a warm touch of lilac), but beyond all of that was the sheer amount of power rolling off of his figure in lazy contented waves.

The signs all pointed to one thing.

A pureblood. The other vampire was a pureblood.

At the same time, the truth behind Kuran Kaname's death struck him with the force of a train at full speed, and he nearly gasped.

"Your sire turned you completely…" It was unheard of, but not impossible, he rationalized. If a pureblood could find means for another to become human, then the same could be said for a reverse process.

The origins of purebreds were human anyhow, he numbly reminded himself. It was not so much a stretch. Kaname had simply never heard of a pureblood willing to go so far for a human. Not then, and not now.

The price was too high to bestow on a race so terribly fragile.

"You really are his child…"

The first and currently only Blood Child in existence was standing right in front of him.

. . .

Thank you for reading! :) *smooch*


	3. Chapter 3

_Inescapable_

Part III

"_You've never been mine, but you'll never leave…"_

_. . .  
_

_He…that was how Kuran Kaname died. Just like…_ "Just like…"

Juri. His mother.

He remembered running down hallways, stairs, more hallways up to double doors, pushing them open, knowing, before he even made it there, that the room beyond it would be bathed in his mother's blood. The smell of it was thick and heavy. He could still feel it pushing against him, weighing him down. He almost failed to get Yuuki out of the room in time; all he could do was stand in a blank daze by the doorway.

Juri wasn't his biological mother, but there wasn't anyone else he would respect and honor in the same way. She was his mother in heart. Having to witness her last moments – blood pooling in a thick layer, devouring the white carpet as it spread, the slender line of her body lying undisturbed next to an oblivious Yuuki as it slowly, gently even, broke down and withered to dust – still left him painfully cold.

A woman strong and fierce as the sun itself, giving her last for her true remaining child in hopes of offering her a different life… He never thought he'd be witness to another like it, but here it was, in the form of a sire's overwhelming love, despair, and guilt, and the sharp scent of cinnamon he hadn't known was there – Zero-san's scent. For the first time, he wondered if Juri had ever felt anything like Zero-san's sire as she…faded. Any regrets with having to leave Yuuki behind, who would have no recollection of ever being in the care of her mother, who would lead her life without the remotest knowledge of who she really was? Perhaps, but perhaps not. As long as Yuuki was safe…

Zero-san didn't say anything, but he slowly untangled their hands and fingers and curled his own around Kaname's wrist, gently pulling him closer.

"Mm." It was just a hum, a sound, nothing definitive, but the deep solidity of Zero-san's voice worked to bring Kaname's attention back to the present. The warm grip around his wrist added another foothold. The images of his mother receded back to a manageable distance.

"You're a Child of his Blood." He tried to stay on topic.

"…Mm." There was that solid hum again. "He had his reasons." His voice was crisp.

"What were they?" Kaname shook his head. _Why would he…?_

While his mother's were obvious, what was Kuran Kaname's purpose in making Zero-san apureblood vampire? Kaname could see no merit in it, no merit in _being_ a pureblood. Why not keep him as a regular vampire? His own memories he was unfortunate enough to regain were filled with very few encouraging moments. His life before his decision to Sleep was most, if not entirely, made up of pain and loss. They were what purebloods most often brought upon themselves and others around them. It was the constant need for power, for destruction, for the high that came with knowing they were superior by crushing an enemy. It was almost instinctive. And if not that, it was to watch from above as people scrambled and danced, all according to how they wanted things to pass, leaving suggestive words of influence that led to unnecessary violence, just to be spared boredom. Their temporary entertainment just became another mark in history, and they would remain long after any public penalties they might earn. In the end, they were left with the realization they were meant to be alone, and tried to show a tough front as the insanity that followed so closely at their heels slowly dominated their senses.

How could anyone think to pass _that _on…to condemn an innocent with their curse?

He felt a swift surge of irrational anger at his namesake for shoving such heavy burdens onto a blameless man.

"His reasons are his own." Zero-san's voice cut through his thoughts in a way Kaname was fast becoming wary of. Only one person had ever affected him as strongly and they had passed on long before his Sleep. "You're the one who wanted him laid to rest. Leave it alone. That's between my sire and I."

Kaname was taken aback by the simple exclusion. He hadn't expected to be so…shut out. But Zero-san was right. It wasn't his place to demand the events that led to Zero-san's current predicament. If the 'victim' in question was aware and accepting, the process must have been consensual. He wouldn't be alive otherwise.

Zero-san rubbed the inside of Kaname's wrist. "Still interested in 'taking care' of me?" He fell to a squat, more level with Kaname's line of sight. "Those are big words for a little pureblood like you."

"My name is Kaname."

"So you've said."

"I am not little." Kaname stated flatly. "And I will hold to my word. You are coming with me." Not waiting for a response, he started to walk, tugging Zero-san along, forcing him to stand to keep up with him.

The hand still around his wrist gave a playful squeeze. Zero-san could be such a child. His father might not have been so far off the mark when he'd labeled Zero-san's reticence as sulking.

"Your need for blood." He asked, wanting to get off the subject of his height, though this one wasn't any less depressing, "How severe is it?"

It took some time before he heard Zero-san's answer. "…Every other week."

"That's rather tame."

"It's the schedule I kept for safety measures before I left for the place my sire left to me."

"And your…tastes?" _Safety measures?_

There was confused silence behind him.

Kaname's pace quickened. "Human males? Females? Children?" He listed off tonelessly.

The silence persisted.

"I am making sure of your preferences. Should you ever decide I'm not enough—"

The grip on his wrist tightened and pulled, swinging him around to come face to face with bright lilac eyes. Bright and intense with concerned curiosity.

"Preferences." Zero-san repeated blankly. "Pull the other one. What do you have against me drinking from humans?"

"…It has nothing to do with you."

"Then what do you have against drinking from humans in general?"

Kaname was coming to hate Zero-san's sharp mind.

"If you won't say anything, I'll go look for the closest town to drain the first human I come across."

"You will not." Kaname immediately snapped, more upset with how casual Zero-san sounded about taking someone else's life than the actual threat itself. "Vampires are capable of living off of other blood sources. We don't need humans to sate our hunger."

Zero-san stared, the concern in his eyes ebbing to let way for more analytical curiosity. "…You _like_ them." He murmured. "Humans. Like Haruka and Juri." His tone wasn't accusing, but factual. "Juri went to school with them. I remember. They were odd. Flighty." His lids lowered in amusement.

It wasn't mocking or patronizing and held none of the condescension he was used to when vocalizing his 'pacifist' ideals; just warm, good-natured teasing. To Zero-san, this was just another topic of conversation. They weren't discussing a subject that had been the cause of all out wars, of a debate that had still yet to reach a favorable conclusion even after thousands of years. Just another conversation, like what the weather might be or what tea they liked. He readily accepted his views without fuss, without disguised pity. Kaname saw no sign of false praise or cautious sympathy.

It was honestly startling.

Seemingly satisfied with his own assessment, Zero-san straightened and started to walk, this time tugging Kaname along. His pace was steady, completely unhurried.

"I've never had human blood. Male, female, or child." He added as an afterthought, absent and airy.

"May I ask why?"

"My sire."

Could he take that to mean… "He kept to the Kuran code of conduct…?" Kaname murmured, mostly to himself.

Zero-san gave a non-committal shrug. "Maybe. I only know he only ever drank from lower ranked vampires. He said humans foolish enough to get bitten were too simple, too shallow, their blood wouldn't taste worth a damn."

Kaname's lips tightened. The previous Kuran Kaname must have had a rather cynical view of humans as a whole. He had only abided by the family rule of not preying on humans out of his own convenience. It was not out of care or kindness he aimed his attentions elsewhere. They simply hadn't fit into his criteria of what he considered a good 'meal'. It was a clinical, clean-cut reasoning Kaname had never encountered. He wondered, not for the first time, what sort of person he was, to have inspired such an idea.

"I won't have to worry over whether you'll be kidnapping humans in the dead of night for a snack then."

"Just the level Cs."

"Who'll likely beg for you to take them, they see it as an honor." Kaname said dryly. Another point for choosing vampires over humans – they took less effort to procure from. Fast and easy. It was so ridiculously basic; if others could keep to the same standards, there wouldn't be a dire need for hunters or the HA.

Zero-san sent him a quiet smile that might have been an answer. Kaname was coming to learn Zero-san's eyes spoke far more for him than his lips or the rest of his face. But it didn't seem deliberate. He'd met plenty of vampires who tried to regulate their emotions, choosing which to reveal and which to hide, and this wasn't the same. Zero-san was just (a lot) less inclined to wide grins or raucous laughter (though he was well practiced in glares and intimidating frowns).

More talkative than when they first met, he was as ambiguous as ever. The things he said, the way he acted – they had yet to fall in any sort of pattern. The few points Kaname could determine were that he held an immense amount of attachment to his sire, that of a child's for an adored father, whose death had consequently affected him detrimentally, and he was in actuality not quite so intolerable once he stopped focusing on his sire's demise. There was one large issue Kaname did know they'd have future disagreements on, and that was honesty. Zero-san was painfully straight with his words – he made the worst pureblood – and Kaname in turn was hardly, if ever, 'straight'. He might as well not know the meaning of the word.

It was a wonder Zero-san's sire approved of him out of other numerous (better) choices to reach out to Zero-san. He could readily admit he was a despicable character and most definitely wasn't fit to take in a vulnerable pureblood barely getting over his sire.

"The main manor should be near." Kaname said, looking past the uneven rows of trees.

Zero-san made a vaguely interested hum as the manor came into view. "They rebuilt it."

Unlike the sharp immaculate white piece of carved history Zero-san had resided in, the main manor held a more modern face. Darker shades helped to blend in and compliment the surrounding forest, its presence subdued. He felt a conflicting mixture of fondness and despair at the sight, both for the memories it evoked.

"Not how you remembered it?"

"No."

"Is it to your liking?"

He almost didn't expect a reply, Zero-san was silent until they reached the entrance. But the moment he pulled the door open, he heard a faint, "It suits you."

. . .

Staring around the barely furnished room and the near empty closet, Zero-san commented, "Spartan."

"Not so," Kaname came out of the bathroom. "I am being advised to move." He could have gladly strangled Ichijou Asato when he'd announced the change. If he had any less control over himself, he would have. Unsympathetic vampire politics should go find itself another tragic orphan to make miserable. The old manipulative goat had even used the friendship between Kaname and his grandson to his advantage, spouting some nonsense about 'familiarity' and 'emotional comfort'.

"By who?" If Zero-san caught the distaste in Kaname's voice, he didn't make note of it.

"A noble has graciously offered his home and the constant company of his grandson."

Zero-san shifted away from the window, impassive. "…They screwed you over." He eventually said. He sounded mild. He must have seen nobles 'screwing' each other all over the place while his sire was alive.

"Very clever. Would you like a cookie?"

Lilac eyes twinkled amusedly. "And you're letting them…?"

"I'd like to refrain from social suicide." Ichijou had stacked a sizeable number of advantages, threats, and more threats with his usual flair of artificial concern, playing the part of caring upstanding citizen.

"When is it?"

"Two days."

Zero-san gave a faint nod, contemplative. "If you're serious about the cookie, I want one."

Kaname blinked. He'd expected something a little more…profound. But, well, why not. Walking to his nightstand, he pulled took out a box of biscuits. "Will these do?"

Zero-san merely held a hand out, palm up. Incredulously amused, Kaname slowly placed one of the treats on it.

Zero-san shook his head, unimpressed. "You said I was clever. I think I deserve more."

Chuckling, Kaname raised his brows. "Really. And what do you think you are so entitled to?" It felt as though he were rewarding a pet, it was surreal. But in some ways, he could consider the pureblood he picked up as a large dog. A mistrustful, potentially volatile, unpredictable dog that still pined over its master.

Zero-san hummed lightly, and Kaname immediately picked up on his darker tone, low and rich. Tilting his head, flecks of crimson bled into his pale irises. "I think you know."

Kaname stiffened, the light humor draining out of him in an instant at the reminder of their verbal contract hitting him over the head like a bucket of cold water. He knew this was what they had agreed on, but he couldn't help the slight betrayal and hurt at Zero-san's bluntness, his thrice be damned _painful straightforwardness_ that stabbed at one of his more sensitive proverbial red buttons.

He had lived his entire life, both lives, under the predatory gaze of other vampires all wanting nothing more than to see him fall and feast upon whatever remained, the least of which was his blood. He was seen as an exquisite main dish they couldn't wait to devour every inch of. People always approached him with demands, with hidden motives, with cries of more, more, more! Zero-san wasn't any different in that regard, he supposed. At least, in this case, Kaname was also getting something out of it. Companionship paid in blood.

But Zero-san only nudged the hand holding the biscuit. The redness he'd deliberately shown in his eyes had receded, back to their glowing lilacs, bright and innocently expectant. He was like a child waiting to be serviced, confident he would be provided for.

Kaname stared down at it incomprehensively and realized, "You…want my blood on…" A _biscuit_? Feeling ridiculous, if not insulted – he'd never done something like this, and was that how Zero-san thought of his blood? Just something to spice up a biscuit? People would massacre entire villages for what he was so casually asking – he dipped his head to bite into his wrist when his hand was pushed down, away from his mouth.

Looking up with a puzzled glare, Zero-san merely uncurled his index finger.

"This is enough."

It would also be less of a mess. Not about to argue with logic, he sank his fang in and held it over the biscuit. After three hypnotic drops, Zero-san finished off his spiked treat in two neat bites.

"Satisfied, are you?" He said tersely.

"…Not bad."

_Not bad_? Astonished (the poor excuse for a pureblood was one surprise after another) he pursed his lips, prepared to fire another biting remark or three, when he caught the soft amazement on Zero-san's face and the remarks died in his throat. Zero-san had the look of someone who'd found hidden treasure amongst a pile of rubble.

He remained frozen even as Zero-san leaned towards him, dangerously close, and he felt the hair at his collar getting gently brushed aside before warm lips left a harmless feather soft kiss on the side of his neck.

He was unable to stop the slight widening of his eyes. As he brought a hand up to cover the spot on his skin with his palm, he told himself he was above wails of confusion (_What the hell do you want!_) and pulling at his own hair. There must be a reason for the bold move, his rationality supplied. Zero-san wasn't prone to offering…physical demonstrations of emotions (of the nice kind) to someone he didn't trust. Kaname had just given him blood, which he seemed to have genuinely enjoyed, and then he had…

Kaname gradually relaxed and let out a wry smile as he procured the information he needed from memories of his past life. It figured he would have to look into the life he wanted to ignore to understand Zero-san's actions. Kissing another's neck was a custom, he remembered, it was a tradition shared between purebloods of the same line, an expression of thanks or affection for a family member. It hadn't been practiced in recent generations – his parents themselves had simply stuck to hugs or kisses on the cheek – but perhaps from Zero-san's generation, this was still the norm.

He could have done without the shock, but he couldn't deny the flutter of warmth that came with the silent proof Zero-san didn't just see him as a prized blood bank. No matter how unconventional, they were family. It couldn't have been expressed any clearer.

"…You're welcome." He whispered.

Attention long since back to whatever was outside the window, Zero-san simply hummed absently.

It was hours later, as he readied himself for another fitful night of sleep, that a vague thought crossed his mind. Zero-san had originally been human. He wasn't born into the life of a vampire, much less that of a pureblood. But he had kissed Kaname without hesitation. He didn't seem forced or awkward, like an outsider trying to implement habits that were unfamiliar to him. Which bore the question: How long had he spent with his sire to have so naturally adopted their mannerisms?

. . .

Sensing Kaname was asleep, Zero wandered down the halls, looking for a specific staircase. He had a bizarre hunch regarding the boy his sire had guided him to, and he wanted answers.

As he'd anticipated, though the manor had been rebuilt from the ground floor and up, the basement was still exactly the same. Reaching one of the farthest rooms, he lifted his hand against its doors, gently pushing it open.

. . .

Thanks for reading! :D *huggles y'all* For those still sticking around, serious smooches, seriously.


	4. Chapter 4

_Inescapable_

Part IV

"_Ah, my sweet, sometimes a different approach is necessary…"_

. . .

Blinking, Kaname blandly asked, "Was that necessary?"

Going back a few minutes, Kaname blankly replayed the events in his mind. Zero-san had disappeared for the remaining two days Kaname was allowed to stay in his home until one of Ichijou's servants in a long chain of command came to pick him up, leaving Kaname to think he'd taken a stroll around the forest or the rest of the manor. When the limo (to hell) came up to the gates, he wrote a quick note for if Zero-san ever needed him at Ichijou's residence.

No sooner than he'd reached the opened door of the limo, the driver was getting slammed head first into the ground, not given the time to yelp for help, and knocked out cold. His blazer was shredded until nothing was left, tie loosened, shirt ripped open halfway, and his unconscious body was then dumped unceremoniously into a nearby bush, his feet still visible. Kaname didn't doubt he would wake with no recollection of how he got to the manor, unless Zero-san had implanted false memories, not just erased them. There must have been some logic to why his clothing was deliberately messed with.

Thus, the remark, "Was that necessary?"

Dressed primly in the exact same uniform as the semi-dead driver, Zero-san ushered him inside, got into the driver's seat, and turned the key. Placing his hands on the steering wheel, he looked about himself, studying the limo's interior, and nodding assuredly, pulled them out of the driveway.

"He would have whined."

Suspicious, Kaname caught the gleam in Zero-san's eyes and slowly commented, "What else have you done…"

Apparently not sensing the need to elaborate, Zero-san's attention stayed on the road. Kaname didn't bother thinking how he knew where to go.

It'd be a lie to say he cared too much for the previous driver, but the relief he felt at seeing Zero-san again wasn't. It made natural sense to stay at the manor, free from being placed under the public eye, but Zero-san had chosen to accompany him, as unorthodox as his methods might be in how he did it. Recalling the thoughtful look after he'd mentioned 'two days', he figured Zero-san had been planning something like this the moment he informed him he was moving.

He was quick to act for someone who hadn't stepped foot into the outside world for centuries.

"You've also debugged this place." Zero-san wouldn't have spoken a word otherwise. Or at least Kaname would like to think he'd be smart enough not to.

"…Technical malfunction. It happens." Stopping at a red light, Zero-san turned around in his seat. "Your new landlord is a creep." The look in his eyes said, "Why haven't you killed him yet?"

Kaname merely smiled amusedly. "Well. If you're going to pull stunts like these, I shouldn't just yet."

Zero-san snorted and turned back around as the light turned green.

. . .

"Oh, Kaname-sama, how pleased we are you've made it here safely. This way, Ichijou-sama would like to see you."

Kaname refrained from letting his brow twitch as Zero-san wrinkled his nose in distaste at the servant's simpering smile, though he nearly did chuckle at the mocking salute Zero-san made to him from inside the limo as he pulled out to head to the parking lot.

What a cheeky child.

He was surprised he wasn't more upset by Zero-san's undercover work. He hated not knowing things, it would have been natural for him to keep an eye out if it were anyone else, but he hadn't questioned Zero-san's disappearance, about what he might be doing while he was gone. He could have been up to any number of things.

Allowing himself the comfort of touching the side of his neck, he held in a self-deprecating smile. That kiss must have affected him on a deeper level than he initially realized. But he'd already voiced his dependence on Zero-san's presence; it would be unfair of him to run back into the emotional isolation that was his comfort zone simply because he felt discomfort at finding he cared for another person. And he did care. He cared what Zero-san thought of him, if he amounted to any significance to him.

And after he was kissed…there had been a sense of relief. Something had come loose, a tight knot that had steadily grown more tangled since the recovery of his memories, only to get undeniably worse after the death of his parents and separation from Yuuki. It wasn't completely undone, but a vital part of it was now pressed smooth, like an iron to an impossibly wrinkled shirt.

Somehow, he found it fitting Zero-san would leave clear understandable spots in one place while adding confusing ones in another. Zero-san was strange, certainly, but he wasn't harmful, nor was he deranged, which, considering his own uncle, was something to be grateful for.

And this undercover mission he'd instigated – he must've had some sort of help in organizing it on such short notice, perhaps another one of Ichijou's lackeys that didn't value its life…?

He got his answer when he stepped in to see Ichijou at his office with no sign of a smiling Takuma at his side. If anything, he'd expected Takuma to be the first to greet him, but he had yet to show.

"Kaname-sama."

"Ichiou."

"My condolences for your recent—"

The door burst open. "Man I'm late!"

"_Takuma_." The stern line of Ichijou's brows lowered ominously over his icy eyes.

"I know, I know, punctuality is everything, impressions are lasting things – I can't really recall it word for word, but I know. Anyway, Kaname!" His green eyes bright, he turned to Kaname, foregoing decorum and flinging his arms around Kaname's shoulders. "Let me show you something a little more riveting than Grandfather's face." He turned to Ichijou. "It's okay, right? I think Kaname's had enough of people saying they're sorry for him."

"…I'll be having words with your tutor."

Takuma just grinned. "You do that. Come on." He tugged Kaname back out of the office.

They exchanged not a word until they reached one of the smaller hallways, Takuma seemingly making sure of their position before his swift hands found a previously unnoticed seam along the wall and he pushed, pulling Kaname alongside him through the revolving wall into a well-lit corridor, the floor covered in thick carpet to muffle their footsteps.

"Takuma?"

"This way."

It wasn't long before they stopped at another blank wall that wasn't exactly a wall, and he was sitting in an armchair with a cup of fresh tea in his hand, Takuma bouncing in his own seat from across the glass table.

"I got a tip off about what our manor is really like and well…" Takuma laughed delightedly. "This is exactly like one of those adventure stories, with secret escape routes and passageways that lead to underground lairs and lost treasures. I bet Grandfather doesn't know about any of this! I'd be getting the lecture of my life." He continued on to eagerly explain everything else he'd found, from centuries-old tea sets to forgotten texts and numerous other networks of hidden rooms.

Kaname smiled softly. "Thank you." He could see Takuma was going to great lengths to distract him, to share his obvious exuberance and joy. "You've had an extraordinary time rediscovering your home these past two days."

Takuma nodded, endearingly sheepish. "…It's the least I could do for you. I know I'm not—that I'm hardly the first person you'd rather be with, but I'll be here. I'll always try to support you."

Kaname nodded back, tucking those words close to heart. They were truly sweet; sentiments that could only come from an unblemished child wanting only to help.

"Do you know who this tip off of yours is?"

Takuma was back to being excited. "Do you know? I've never seen them. They just–kind of left me a note. On my desk. In front of my tutor. Without my tutor noticing. It was fascinating. I can't figure out how they did it. It was as if only I could see it. Didn't think it was real at first, but I checked and, well, all of this was here."

Letting out a soft sigh, he'd suspected as much, Kaname placed his teacup on the table. "Zero-san, how could you involve Takuma?"

A flutter of white doves materialized behind Kaname's armchair and their forms bled together until the pale pureblood he called for was standing in their place. Leaning against the back of the chair with a hand, Zero-san casually swooped down for a light peck at Kaname's neck as a greeting and straightened, seemingly not paying mind to the startled blink his action caused.

"He knows Who he is and What he wants." He intoned. He walked around Kaname's chair to sit on the arm of Takuma's, offering him a slice of cake from the table, which Takuma took with a smile.

"So you were the one leaving me those messages? You've a very beautiful hand, I thought you were a woman."

Zero-san didn't seem offended by the observational comment. Flicking his wrist, a white dove flapped into existence, settling on Takuma's shoulder. "Keep it." Zero-san said.

"He's cute, thank you." Takuma ran a finger along its head, exchanging a knowing glance with it that said this wasn't the first time he'd had contact with it. Kaname assumed the bird was how Zero-san delivered his messages.

The dove ruffled its feathers, visibly pleased by the praise. Zero-san's eyes lit up amusedly.

"So, Zero-san? Is it okay to ask how you know Kaname?"

Zero-san nodded and moved back to Kaname's side. "…He was chosen to, and he retrieved me." Very literal and completely senseless as far as explanations went, but Takuma merely smiled in acceptance.

"You must feel very lucky." He said softly.

Much to Kaname and Takuma's confusion, Zero-san frowned disapprovingly at the well-meant sentiment. It wasn't out of resentment or that he was offended. He had the look of a teacher reprimanding a student for being inappropriate or rude. "He is who he is." He said cryptically, tone cool, before his features smoothed and he dipped his head for another kiss at Kaname's neck as a silent farewell, his form dispersing in a flurry of white petals.

Takuma cleared his throat uncomfortably in the tension that followed. "I'm sorry." He petted the dove at his shoulder soothingly. "I've upset him."

"He'll live." Kaname murmured. "He's…still very new to his environment, and has yet to completely grasp current events. He can be temperamental; he has a fragility about him, but if you stick to topics that involve sweets or maiming hapless drivers, you'll be safe from his moods." He couldn't see what was wrong. Takuma had been all but complimentary.

"…I can tell he cares for you." Takuma poked at his cake. "He showed me the 'doors' so you'd be safer, and made sure I was confident about my feelings for you." He played with the icing. "He told me I would be defying Grandfather if I sided with you, and if I couldn't do that…he'd make it so I wouldn't have to play for two sides." He took a breath, eyes bright and hard. "It didn't stop me from saying yes."

Kaname's face tightened. "He shouldn't have pushed such decisions on you." It was heartrending enough for a vampire child to truly have the chance to _be_ a child; they shouldn't be pressured into turning their backs on the only family left to them.

"I'm glad for it. I would've had to make them sooner or later. I'd rather it was now than when it might be too late." Takuma smiled reassuringly. "And he didn't push, I promise. He was giving me a way out, actually, and I think it was pretty nice of him."

It was; Kaname couldn't deny that. Zero-san could have simply killed Takuma for an alliance refusal just on principal. He had refrained most likely out of deference to Kaname's own affections for Takuma. It was impractical to keep a possible threat alive. He could have killed the driver as well, but had gone out of his way to reform the man's memories instead, which undoubtedly took more effort.

_Practical, but not ruthlessly so_.

"He's looking out for you," Takuma laughed softly. "In the weirdest way, but he is." He bit into the strawberry. "I wonder if everyone you'll ever come in contact with is going to get interrogated along with background checks or something."

Kaname held back a snarl of indignity. He hardly needed looking after in such a fashion. If Zero-san even _dared_ to…

"We should get back to your rooms now, I guess" Takuma glanced nervously at the clock. "I mean, Grandfather will probably expect you for dinner."

Wishing he could be anywhere else, Kaname nodded. Expected for dinner indeed, he thought sardonically. Didn't every depraved lower class vampire entertain the same idea at some point…?

Coincidentally, Ichijou was blessedly absent for their evening meal – something about a last minute (rather urgent) meeting of the council he could not afford to miss. His PA felt uncharacteristically confused when she relayed the news; Kaname assumed she wasn't informed of what the meeting could be about.

Anything that had the council scrambling to gather themselves should have been alarming, but Kaname couldn't find it in himself to care overly much. He simply knew whatever it was, wasn't worth the effort. He sent the dove perched at the back of Takuma's chair a surreptitious glance.

It blinked back innocently.

. . .

Cross Kaien gazed curiously over his cup of tea as Yuuki, his recently adopted daughter, engaged in a staring contest with a pure white dove on the sill. Yuuki had immediately opened the window once spotting the bird resting on the other side, what with the cold weather, and hadn't taken her eyes off it since. She'd yet to speak a word to it, her transformation and resulting lack of memories not leaving her with much to talk about.

He'd already warned her of touching it. It could be carrying something dangerous, no matter how unlikely that was. It was probably due to the concept he held of doves in general (untainted, peaceful, loving), not to mention the pristine feathers, untouched and so dearly delicate in appearance – clean and smooth.

How could such a sweet bird be harmful?

It sat calmly, unmoving, unafraid of Yuuki's undivided attention, undaunted by her wide piercing eyes. It seemed to study her right back, letting out a soft coo as it tilted its head.

"…You smell nice."

Cross nearly gulped his tea down the wrong way as he heard Yuuki speak for the first time that day. And it hadn't been posed as a question. She hadn't spoken out of necessity, to ask for food, what certain objects were called, or how things worked. Holding in a choked cough, he took a hurried sip, willing his heartbeat to slow.

Yuuki hadn't quite reached her word limit for the day as she continued, "Kaname-sama. You feel like Kaname-sama."

The dove's answering coo to that was decidedly warmer, lighter, as though fond of her interest. If he didn't know better, Cross would've thought the bird actually _recognized_ Kaname's name. But it was just a regular bird. He didn't feel anything different from it. If it were Kaname's familiar, it would carry his signature. This dove came up as a blank in terms of supernatural auras, there was no indication of it being something else.

As if to challenge his deduction, the dove hopped down in arm's reach, giving Yuuki enough time to back away, before toddling closer, breaching the short distance between them. Yuuki, forgoing his warning, fearlessly ran her small hands down its sides, letting out a sound of quiet delight. The dove cooed louder, now more of a gentle purr, pleased with Yuuki's reaction.

Shaking his head, Cross stood from his seat to pull the bird out of Yuuki's arms, but jumped and yelped when it flew up to peck at his face ferociously. He tripped and fell on his bottom shielding his face until it was convinced of his surrender, though the bird cared not a wit for it, going straight to settle smugly in Yuuki's arms, cooing happily.

Well. Cross frowned and fixed his skewed glasses. _Well_.

. . .

Reappearing back in the basement, Zero placed a hand on the lid of the lone coffin in the room, kneeling down to place his forehead against its side. He hadn't entered any other rooms in the manor but for this one and Kaname's. Though, this one might as well be Kaname's too, for all the time he'd spent in it, Sleeping or not. It must have been horrifying, to Wake after so long by the forceful Sacrifice of Haruka and Juri's precious firstborn. Zero was sure his sire had wished for nothing more than to be wrong, but he wasn't. What he had deemed the Worst had come to pass.

Upon alienating Haruka and Juri, Rido had…

"I'm still making guesswork," Zero murmured, "But you've never lied to me." His sire had been unfailingly truthful to him for three and a half centuries. He wouldn't let lies color his last breath. Not to him. "You knew he could…that's why you left me." And his sire had known he would never leave the manor, if only out of spite. "I'm still mad, Kaname…" _But I love you._

His father, mentor, brother, friend – Kaname was everything. However he had claimed otherwise, Zero _was _his; had always been, and always would be.

Eyes sparking with humor, Zero admitted, "…He's not like you." His current charge was… "He's so lost, between Now and Then." Devastatingly gentle, courageous, and self-destructive. It made his blood sing.

"He's beautiful." The statement, hushed and low, seemed to echo loudly in the dimly lit room.

. . .

_O.M.A.K.E._

Kaname turned to roll on his back as he woke, rubbing at his eye, when he felt weight against his chest that was exasperatingly becoming familiar ever since his stay in Ichijou manor.

"Are you not supposed to be with Takuma?" He murmured to the cooing dove making itself at home atop his sheets.

In the entire length of time he'd spent at the manor (a fortnight thus far), the bird always ended up in the same place every morning, without fail.

Giving a happy flutter of its wings, it hopped to Kaname's pillow and poked at his hair before dissipating with a quiet flap, leaving behind a faint breeze smelling distinctly of cinnamon.

He wondered if Zero-san was deliberately instigating the strange morning routine, but didn't deem the matter important enough to trying looking for him to ask. He supposed he would find out when the opportunity presented itself.

It was a few months before he had the chance; when Takuma commented he was relieved to see Kaname doing well (he had been ready to stuff food down his throat and wrestle him to bed). It was no surprise; Takuma was one of the few who knew him for his irregular habits. It was so easy to forget to indulge his physical needs with so many other things to occupy his mind. He saw them as bothersome. They interrupted his workflow and took up productive time. He was even less inclined for sleep due to his (he wouldn't call them nightmares) unpleasant dreams.

…Of which he hadn't a single one since the introduction of the dove.

_Zero-san…_

On his seventeenth week, he ran his fingers along sleek feathers and reached a hand towards the window to 'part' the curtains and 'unlock' it, a smoky dark tendril trailing up from his palm solidifying into a black sparrow he sent flapping swiftly out of the room.

. . .

Zero hardly reacted to the bird landing on his head, settling on his silver locks. Lips twitching, he coaxed it onto his finger and pressed a kiss between its eyes, making it disperse into threads of metallic onyx, reforming at the shell of his ear into another earring, a delicate sparrow that whispered to him words of gratitude every morning.

. . .

Thank you for reading! :D


	5. Chapter 5

_Inescapable_

Part IV.V

_Interlude – Kuran Kaname_

. . .

The nights were so quiet these days, Kuran Kaname mused to himself as he pulled back his curtain, gazing down at the scenery outside his tall window. Since the outbreak of some disease that worked to kill them off in days, humans now tended to stay shut indoors, too frightened to step out, not knowing if they were going to be next. Kaname found this regulation of population quite interesting. Just like the incident centuries prior, when humans had nearly drove themselves into extinction, when the numbers started to rise once again, natural causes worked to keep them in check.

At times, it seemed too convenient to be a coincidence, and yet as he wasn't a religious man, he could find no other explanation than that it should be by chance. The idea there was an omnipotent presence watching over them all playing out their lives like puppets on a string was logically impossible.

"Fate, Destiny…if they really do exist, I must wonder what mine is shaping to be?" He murmured amusedly, letting the curtain fall shut as he stepped away from the window and back to his mid-morning snack.

Resting at the edge of his bed, atop his silky sheets was a young vampire; her long curly tresses held up and away from her throat in an elegant bun, wide eyes lowered in submission.

"I don't think I caught your name, Miss…?"

"Lana, my lord."

"Lana. A beautiful name," he smiled, running his hand down her cheek. She was a fairly attractive girl, a charming shy innocence about her he found endearing, but his eyes were more focused on her long graceful neck, tracing over its lines and the subtle movement of blood running under her skin. Untouched, unblemished, unmarked.

She was still a virgin in the eyes of their kind, and he would be her first.

Giving her a soft reassuring smile, he leaned forward to press his lips against her forehead when a hesitant knock caught his attention. He and Lana shared a glance and after she nodded, he stood from the bed to approach his door. The young maid he hired knew better than to interrupt him, especially at this hour, and he quickly surmised whatever this was must be rather urgent.

Coming out into the hall, he closed the door behind him. "What has you in such a hurry, Hana?"

"My lord…there's…" Hana swallowed. "There's a woman waiting to see you." Her brows creased in concern. She quietly admitted, "She was with a child – a baby. She doesn't look well, my lord. I told her to reconsider coming at this time, but she wouldn't leave, and I was wont to have her standing out there in the cold."

"It's all right, Hana. I understand."

Relief stark in her face, she nodded. "Is there anything you need me to do?"

"…Why don't you accompany me to see our unexpected visitor? I'm sure she will be more comforted by a sympathetic face."

From what Hana had informed him, he had been half expecting to see a bedraggled human in terrible physical state, but what greeted him in his sitting room was far from what his imagination had conjured. Sitting on his couch was a tall regal Lady of at least moderate social standing. Pale and delicate, her sharp eyes shone with intelligence not many women could afford to nurture during this age and time.

"Are you the head of this household? Kuran Kaname?" She immediately questioned.

"…Yes, that'd be me."

"I'm Kaga Sumire. I won't bother with apologies," she started, though she did look contrite, "or I wouldn't have come here to being with." Her hold around the small bundle of cloth in her arms tightened. "I heard about you from a close friend. How you would have enough power to keep my child safe." She turned to him fully. "I would give you anything you ask for, if you promise me the future of my child."

Hana let out a muffled gasp, her hands covering her mouth while he tilted his head in bemusement. "Why do you feel such a strong need for protection?"

Sumire's lips pursed. "I had this child in secret. No one was to know with the exception of the nurse and myself. I'd hoped to keep his existence from the rest of my family, especially the father of this child…"

"But it did not go as you planned it." He concluded.

"No." she said softly. "I can only tell you he is unfit to be a father." Her loyalty to her lover, even now, would prevent her from saying anything more, Kaname guessed. She loved the father of her child dearly, that he could see so clearly emblazoned in her eyes, but she also feared what would become of her child should it be raised under the tutelage of her lover.

"You heard of me from a close friend, you said. Have they told you exactly what I am?" That he never aged, was nocturnal, and his diet consisted singularly of blood…

"Yes."

"And you would still rather me raise your child than its biological father?"

She nodded, her lips lifting with a touch of amusement at the understated incredulity in his question. "You are an extremely gentle man, my heart tells me so, and I know you will treat my son right. You may not love him, but you will care for him, and most of all, you can protect him from what I cannot."

Walking up to him, she held out the precious bundle in her arms, her expression bother firm and pleading. "Please, you may ask anything of me if you would ensure his safety."

Blinking down at the tiny face peeking through the silky cloth surrounding it, he slowly reached out to run his fingertip down a devastatingly soft rounded cheek, marveling at its texture. Fascinated, he nudged the small pink lips, his eyes widening as the babe scrunched its face up in a disgruntled manner and turned away.

"You act as though you've never seen a human child." Sumire mused, watching their interaction.

"I haven't." He easily admitted. "This is the first time I've been in contact with a human as young as this."

"He's eleven months old." She informed.

Eleven months? He marveled. Not even a full year?

She chuckled at his expression. "Is it so hard to believe? We must start out somewhere, Lord Kuran. How else do we get to measure our age if not starting at zero?"

"That is true, certainly," he nodded, still focused on the child. "They are still so small after eleven months?" He asked curiously. "When do they grow to be as tall as you or me?"

There was a moment of silence as the babe's mother stared, wondering if he was actually serious, and even Hana let out a giggle at his ignorance. "It will take at least a decade and a half, my lord." She offered kindly.

"I see…" A _decade __and__ a__ half_, he inwardly goggled. Well, for having such a short lifespan, humans seemed to take an awful length of time to mature…

That is, if the baby stayed human.

Eyes narrowing contemplatively, he privately entertained the thought of the small babe withering away some decades from now, old and frail, while he himself looked young enough to pass for a grandson. Sighing inaudibly, he kept his face impassive as another thought occurred to him amidst the various scenarios prancing about his mind and he paused, absently tucking a lock of his hair behind his ear.

Was he already thinking about what it would be like to live out decades with this child?

Yes, he supposed he was. He could do without the child dying of old age, however. It was highly unappealing. That wouldn't be happening under his watch.

It seemed like his decision was made then.

He briefly considered letting the young mother know of her son's eminent genetic change (perhaps after the decade and a half Hana mentioned) from mortal to…not so mortal, but doubted she would have much of an opinion on the matter as she was willing to give him up, and kept the insignificant tidbit unvoiced.

He would also have to keep in mind his family's reaction to him turning someone, as the act was strictly against House rules. His sister-in-law could be persuaded to his side of things after a time, provided with a very moving story, but his brother…had an enlarged sense of responsibility than any other vampire in existence and was an annoying stickler for the regulations. No reason would be good enough to dismiss what he was planning for the child.

He inwardly smiled. Well, if his brother was going to be against it, Kaname would simply have to move first. Objections would be for naught if he turned the child before his brother found out. His brother deciding to 'get rid of the problem' would be unlikely too, as turning would make the child family, and Kuran looked out for other Kuran, or so his brother tried to enforce, much to Kaname's amusement. Instilling the concept of 'family' into a species naturally inclined to isolation and solidarity was a largely useless effort.

This child, however, was human and would see to Kaname as a child would its guardian, perhaps even a parent. They were pureblood vampire and human babe. One couldn't be more different than the other, and yet, he mused, it only felt as though this child would be slotting into a ready-made space in Kaname's life that he wasn't aware he had until now.

"May I hold him…?" Trying to remember how soft humans were, he reminded himself he would have to measure his strength when it came to holding something so fragile. He could…break things if he squeezed too hard.

"Of course." She stepped closer to place him atop his arms, carefully arranging his hands to cradle the babe properly. "You're doing a splendid job." She reassured when he looked at her uncomfortably. "Thank you," she mouthed carefully.

He could tell, from the grateful warmth in her eyes, that she had seen his non-verbal acceptance for what it was. One would never ask to hold a child they weren't willing to care for.

But the slight shift had been enough to pull the babe from his nap and tiny pink lips parted in an excited gurgle as wide lilac eyes looked up into an unfamiliar face. "Ma?"

Kaname laughed softly, immediately taken by bright glowing orbs. What a gorgeous hue, he inwardly bubbled. "Your mother is right here; not to worry little one."

"Hello sweetie," the young woman smiled. "You'll have to be good for Lord Kuran now. I can't be with you anymore, precious." She leaned in to press a chaste kiss to his forehead, nose, and lips. "You'll be fine now." She whispered.

"…What shall I tell him of you when he asks?" Kaname murmured.

She blinked up at him in pleasant surprise before lightly answering, "Oh anything. I don't have particular attachments to any specific portrayal you might give." She laughed softly. "But do tell him he must choose his love wisely."

"Will you…are you returning to him after this?" He said cautiously, referring to her lover. He sounded like a dangerous man.

She shook her head. "He knows I've been keeping our child away. He doesn't forgive easily, if at all." Her eyes took on a hard glint.

"Miss, will you not stay here, then? I'm positive my lord will be able to accommodate you as well…" Hana burst out haltingly.

"Hana, there must be a reason for her leaving her child with us. You mustn't push her."

"No, that's all right." The young woman waved aside. "She has every right to know. If I make a disappearing act as well, my family, who've no idea about my child, will start to suspect something, which will in turn make _him_ suspect something, and I can't have that." She explained.

"I assume that includes visits of any kind?" He inquired gently.

Her expression finally started to show some strain. "I can't risk anyone tracing my presence back to this place. This is the first and last time I'll ever step foot into your home." She would never see her son again. "Everything…everything I could ever give him is in those trunks." She gestured behind the couch she'd been sitting on. "I've made the purchases over time and discreetly so no one would suspect, it's not much…" She cut herself off. "No…" She shook her head. "If it helps, just tell him I was a despicable woman who was cruel hearted enough to be able to leave her own son in the hands of strangers.

"I don't want him to be tied down by me or his father. I trust your judgment. I don't care what he thinks of me as long as he's safe and happy."

"He will not be happy thinking of you in such ways."

She laughed weakly. "Whatever works."

He nodded. "I will tell him his mother was a beautiful woman who thought the world of him."

She let out a girlish giggle, eyes misty. "You certainly have a way with words, Lord Kuran."

"I only speak the truth." He said as if to shrug. "Will you leave me with a name?"

She parted her mouth then quickly closed it before parting them again. "…I would like it if you would provide him with a new title."

It didn't take long for Kaname to make up his mind. Gazing down at the tiny boy nestled in his arms, still blinking at him owlishly, his lips lifted. "As you mentioned before," he murmured, "we must all start out somewhere, and this will be his new beginning. He will be Zero." Flicking his wrist, he acquired a pen and piece of paper, swiftly scrawling out a single character and presenting it to the young mother.

Taking the paper in her hands, she gave a slow nod. "…Fitting, I suppose." The word Zero also ignited in her a sense of desolation; a vast sea of emptiness stretching out without limits, waiting to be filled.

Her small, lost son, who could've been born with everything if not for her choices, was to be gifted with new possibilities once again. She hoped for him the new beginning Lord Kuran intended for him. She had already lost him a father and now she would deprive him of a mother, of grandparents, of a full family…but with this otherworldly man, ethereally beautiful, a tragic kindness lighting his dark eyes…she prayed her son would find all he would ever need.

"Vibrant and untainted," Kaname dipped his head to nuzzle his nose with that of baby Zero's, "You'll be a fine child."

Zero squealed and reached up to jerk at his guardian's long locks, causing him to wince. "Ma!"

"Vibrant indeed." Hana chuckled. The following years would be exactly that.

. . .

"Oh, Zero…" Kaname looked mournfully down at his wet, soapy shirt.

"'Me?"

At eleven and a half months of age, currently looking up from the bath, skin rosy from gentle scrubbing and the warmth of the water, his little tyrant was no less enchanting than when he first laid eyes on him. While he would have flayed anyone else for ruining his clothing, he could never punish his little love; not even for something so grievous.

"And you've even started to learn my name." He cooed. It was just the last syllable, but it was a start.

"After we've changed, let us have Hana make you some honeyed apples. It wouldn't do to leave you hungry."

Strolling into the kitchens half an hour later, Hana was waiting for them with a smile. She handed him a bowl of soft, sweetened apples. "You've become rather smitten, my lord."

"His charm is unrivaled."

Swiftly cutting into his palm, he let a few drops of his blood into the food before grabbing a spoon and scooping a small portion of it against Zero's lips. When Zero tried to make a grab for the spoon, his round face set in a disgruntled pout when Kaname pulled away. Hana laughed quietly. "Is your blood so different, my lord?"

"I've never done something so crass as to drink my own blood; I've nothing to compare to." If Hana's reaction was any indication, he supposed it was unusual for a human infant to share Zero's preference in meals. But nothing else they tried had satisfied the boy any, and the idea of adding his blood to the food had been a morbid (lucky) stab in the dark. Zero would only throw (adorable) tantrums if he were fed anything else. To quote Zero's own biological mother, "Whatever works."

"Will the blood affect him at all?"

He smiled cryptically. "We shall see." His blood tended to have a mind of its own, though it would never hurt Zero. It could inspire in his charge the most extraordinary of changes or it could do nothing at all.

"Hana! Hana!"

"Yes, little master?"

"Hana!" Zero's bright eyes were intent on the extra spoon she was holding.

"Oh, must you?" Kaname groaned as she handed it over. "He'll make a mess of himself – in his new clothes!"

"That is what bibs are for, my lord."

Amusingly enough, Zero still ate from Kaname's spoon even as he used his own, alternating between one and the other.

"I do wonder if my niece and nephews were like this." Kaname murmured, nudging another bite between Zero's lips. "Though surely, Rido was a hellion even before he was born, he gave Kiku such hardship. It only got worse after he came out. The little blighter."

"You've mentioned him in a similar fashion years previous." Hana commented haltingly.

"Rido is a disaster waiting to happen." Kaname said shortly. "He Arrived half-empty; and he will Leave just the same."

Haruka and Juri seemed to have faired better, but they were too much like their mother, in appearance and character. Judging from what he knew of Kiku, they would have been far more blessed with a human life, with human limitations and human concepts. Their lack of drive and aggression would sooner or later drain them dry.

His sister-in-law was too fragile, his brother too rigid. His niece and nephew were too kind, and his other nephew too cold. He wanted none of it for Zero.

_Be __flexible,__ but__ not __so__ much __you__'__ll__ snap_.

Staring back at him avidly, Zero smiled widely, his milk white teeth gleaming, and he stretched out his free hand to pat along Kaname's face. "'Me!" Carefully scooping up some of the apple, he pushed it against Kaname's lips.

"What generosity," Kaname chuckled. "Thank you Zero, but these are your apples."

"How about some milk, little master?" Hana wiggled the sippy cup in Zero's line of sight.

"Mil'!" He squealed.

Upon taking his first sip, however, he pushed the cup away, unimpressed, and returned his attention to his snack. Kaname shook his head fondly and twisted the top off the cup, slicing open another cut on his recently healed palm for more of his blood to be diluted into the milk.

"I trust your tastes are met?" He said amusedly, silently urging Zero to take up the cup again.

"I'm sorry, my lord. I'd forgotten."

He held up a hand to stop her apologies. "He's enjoying himself; there is no need to make unnecessary fuss." It was only a few drops of blood.

"But—Oh! The pot!" Hana dashed off to save their lunch.

Well. Not to the rest of his family if they ever heard about it, he supposed. Giving such a young human child his blood with daily consistency would no doubt shock if not horrify them. His brother was sure to have more than a few words against it and his sister-in-law might as well faint. The only instance in which a pureblood vampire ever gave out blood was for the process of turning someone, and should others (namely hunters) get wind of what he was doing, things might be blown well out of proportion, some of which included his own family's personal agreements made with the Hunter Faction.

Honestly, he thought exasperatedly, the first Kuran Kaname (the first of everything, it seemed, when it came to vampire-hunter relations), the pureblood who had made the agreements to begin with and who also happened to be his grandfather, was a bit of a bore. He'd never known him personally; the vampire he had been named after had long since put himself to Sleep before he was born, and however he might have been in person, Kaname couldn't imagine his grandfather and he having much in common, or he wouldn't be hanging out in a coffin in his brother's basement.

Grief, loss, loneliness, despair… "He must have lost to them all." He murmured absently. To Sleep so deeply.

Or had he not the courage to end his life himself? All he'd needed was an anti-vampire weapon, which his grandfather was rumored to be able to use. A few injuries in fatal areas of the body and he would be a blissful goner. But he had chosen to live.

Perhaps it was a twisted form of guilt that led to self-inflicted punishment…? If so, his grandfather really was a bore. Worse than his brother. Kaname couldn't understand the logic of placing blame for every misfortune that happened to befall humanity at his own feet. It was irrational.

"_We are miserable savage creatures, Kaname. Vampires, pureblood vampires, aren't made for peace. We were born under turmoil, confusion, war… We are high-functioning weapons. We can lay tens of thousands of humans and lower vampires to waste without lifting a hand. You aren't naïve enough to think we don't have destructive natures 'wired' in, in order to utilize those abilities. We have certain instincts that call to us; you've felt them. To conquer, to devour… It's part of what we are, you must see that."_

Unforgettable words from a dear friend centuries ago. Unforgettable, accurate words, Kaname smiled. Truly, pureblood vampires were a terror when and if incensed, but it wasn't just instinct that moved them. Rather, it was great passion. Vampires had the capacity to feel so deeply, so strongly, it led them to miraculous achievements. But to develop those passions for the human race…was it possible?

Was it passion that drove his grandfather, or simply duty to protect those weaker than himself? "It's certainly possible for one of us to love a single human, at minimum." Kaname pressed a kiss to Zero's hair. "But it could merely be my 'eccentricities' at play. I'm known to be quite the exception when it comes to our kind. I've been since my clear aversion to human blood." He might as well been declared a perversion for simply that if the responses he'd gotten were any indication. "But then again," his voice lowered, fixing a contemplative gaze at his charge, "my aversion may all be for you, dearest. For how else should a vampire take care for a human child? My kind so loves preying on the young ones. A despicable practice, I know, but they find it fulfilling."

He didn't worry Zero ever becoming a victim, even with his blood now further enticed by consuming his own. Not many vampires would risk having their cities or villages (yes, _entire_ cities and villages, not just their families) being razed to the ground in retaliation. Kaname had a temper and he knew when to use it.

"My Time is with yours, Zero, but yours is…with someone else's." He realized. It would explain Zero's particular taste for vampire blood. He was meant to last beyond a single human lifetime. "Of course, the one human child I choose to adore would be meant for something." Or someone. This child wasn't to be tied to a single place or being.

"You are for me, but someone else is for you." He nodded decisively. That sounded just about right. "As long as Rido is not involved, you are welcome to anyone." He paused. "Well, I say anyone…" No charge of his was settling for something _half-empty_. Zero deserved Everything. He would obviously have to make certain this 'anyone' would be worth Zero's consideration before letting them near him.

"And in the meanwhile," he beamed, his heart warming as Zero beamed back, if only in the way children naturally mimicked the actions of those in their immediate surroundings, "I will ensure my love for you lasts until the moment you no longer have use for it."

"'Me!" Zero declared as if in answer to his vow, taking another determined bite of his apples.

"I do hope you'll learn to say it fully, dearest, lest I lose the little dignity I have left to swooning and cooing endearments in front of an audience." 'Me, was Zero's title for him and he quite inexplicably adored it.

"You'll only grow more precious to me as you mature, won't you." It was a sure thing. He didn't mind it in the least. He was looking forward to it.

. . .

Thank you for reading! :D

I dunno, did that clear things up for some people? I feel terrible with all the confusion this fic is made of ^^; I'm busiest than I ever was in my life, but inspiration struck, and well...yup.


	6. Chapter 6

_Inescapable_

Part V

"_He will, my love, he will. And when he does…"_

. . .

"Get…rid of him_…_"

Or so the barely coherent pureblood had ordered, Ichijou Asato thought to himself. It would be grand if he could kill every person who slighted him, but things never worked that way in reality, less so if he couldn't even find whom he wanted to kill. There were no leads given, not a name, gender, or an exact age (though he supposed that became irrelevant after a certain age with purebloods). No descriptions. Nothing about where this unknown target might frequent. It all seemed a wasted cause to expend the effort it would take to find Rido's target.

Jaw clenching in exasperated frustration, Asato wished he had some other way of letting off the inevitable tension that came with being forced to deal with Rido's childish demands. All until due time, of course, but it didn't make submitting to Rido any easier. And yet, he held in an aggrieved sigh, he couldn't have Kuran Rido making things inconvenient with his petty tantrums at not getting his way if Asato couldn't make this possible. The council might be convinced it would be in their best interest to get rid of Rido before his date was up, and Asato couldn't have that.

How to proceed with accomplishing the pureblood's mad demands, however… Sitting behind his desk, Ichijou leaned back into his seat, face furrowed in concentration.

Rido had claimed an old pureblood had recently come out of hibernation and wanted him or her gone. Aside from Rido himself and perhaps Hiou Shizuka, this pureblood would be the eldest alive and active. Keeping in mind how old Touma and Shoutou were, this pureblood boded well not at all. Ichijou had no idea of when this supposed newcomer had come back on line and what they had been doing in the meanwhile. If Rido had taken care to mention them, it would be safe to assume they wouldn't have sat around watching the dust pick up.

Regardless of when this pureblood had come on line, if even a day had gone by since, there was no doubt they were perfectly capable of blending in with the modern masses as if they had been born into the era. One of the lesser frightening aspects of purebloods was their ability to absorb current knowledge (or any knowledge, in fact) at an astonishing rate through means of blood.

God forbid they lose their immaculately maintained composure to stumble around in confusion after centuries of hibernation, he sneered.

Rido's orders or no, what he truly needed, all he needed, was to know what side this pureblood was on and if they could be used as another piece to forward his plans. They were going to die in the end anyhow he might as well make use of them before it happened.

But first things first, he had to _find_ this pureblood.

His mind busy with composing a practical contact list, the small bird taking off from his windowsill went unnoticed.

. . .

Kaname didn't need to look up from his book to know Takuma's tutor was frustrated beyond her limits and that Takuma was enjoying the day's lessons' downward spiral into something close to, but not exactly, proverbial hell.

"Takuma-sama, please send your…pet away this instant. It's becoming a distraction."

Petting the dove nestled at his shoulder with a bright smile, Takuma shrugged. "I would if I could. No wait, I wouldn't even if I could. He's really sweet, you know? He brought me cookies last time I had to cram for an exam. And he wakes me up on time every morning. But yeah, I don't know how to tell him to go. I tried once, thinking my studying must be boring him on unholy levels, but he just sat there. He's pretty stubborn."

The tutor looked ready to strangle the bird with her bare hands. Kaname watched as it barely spared her a glance before pointedly turning away to nose at Takuma's hair with its beak. It was unmistakably a clear dismissive gesture that felt oddly human. Considering the bird must be incorporated with some of Zero-san's characteristics, Kaname didn't give it a second thought. What he was intrigued by was the bird's steadfast efforts in sticking to Takuma's side. To Yuuki's side.

Hiding his wry smile behind the book, he recalled his reaction upon finding Zero-san's dove on Yuuki's head the day the chairman had coerced him into visiting, nearly six months prior. Alarmed, panicked, mentally floundering as he'd wondered whether Zero-san _knew_ and what he'd do about it if he did, he casually asked the chairman of the dove's origins.

According to the chairman, the dove had seemingly landed randomly on their windowsill and just…stayed. He believed the dove to be just what it appeared and Kaname hadn't given him any indication to think otherwise. Zero-san's extension hadn't harmed Yuuki and all Kaname could glean from it was a protective vibe, as though it were meant to shield her from something specific, he didn't feel the need to separate her from it.

Zero-san's reply to the whole incident had been bland, "_I gave her a Mute. You already know what those are_."

He did, but it couldn't be. Kaname had shaken his head, incredulous. "_They don't exist. They're impossible to create_." A vampire's extension always carried their signature; it would be incapable of maintaining its chosen form without it. A Mute, an extension lacking presence of any kind, was therefore logically impossible.

Blinking slowly, Zero-san's tone had sounded vaguely amused. "_You don't know how to make them. You don't remember._"

Placing the tip of his forefinger against the silk of the ribbon decorating Kaname's neck, Zero-san traced the shape of a dove, and then undid the ribbon to show he'd added an embroidering of the bird on the bottom right corner. "_A Mute still carries a signature. It's what it projects that makes it different from other extensions._"

Kaname had carefully brought the embroidered corner to his eyes, then his nose to scent it and closing his eyes, then brought it to his lips. Initially only able to smell whatever was left from the touch of Zero-san's finger, he'd started to discern subtle, but firm senses of _'disinterest' 'normality' 'ordinary'_ pushing at his mind, persuading him to ignore the bird and think of it as nothing more than an embroidery.

"_Are these projections aimed at Yuuki as well?_" Her safety or no, he disliked the idea of anything trying to influence her thoughts.

Zero-san's lips had lifted in the slightest smile and he leaned in to press the curve of them at Kaname's throat in an attempt to soothe (which irritatingly enough, had actually worked). His suspicions had withered in the face of Zero-san's earnest, though silent, plea of 'Don't be upset. I didn't mean make you so.'

But Zero-san hadn't shared anything more on the subject.

Yuuki's dove differed in temperament from Takuma's. Both were from Zero-san, but they were separate…versions; or reflections rather. While Takuma's seemed mild, merely indifferent to any who weren't Takuma or Kaname, Yuuki's tended to border on homicidal if approached by…unauthorized figures. The chairman couldn't receive nearly as many hugs as before from Yuuki due to fear of getting his face pecked off if he wasn't cautious.

And strangely, neither Takuma nor Yuuki found their doves' behavior odd. Yuuki never protested against the bird's treatment to those other than herself or Kaname, merely letting it know she didn't want it to hurt whomever she chose to physically get close to. Apparently she also conversed with it a great deal more than she did the chairman or anyone else. She absolutely adored it.

"_He feels like you, Kaname-sama." _For Yuuki, that was reason enough to trust it.

A startled yelp from the tutor brought his thoughts back to the present and he glanced up in time to see the tutor having stepped away from her desk and Takuma's dove nowhere in sight as Takuma himself stared owlishly down at his left hand, now wrapped around a sleek ivory sword.

"Um. I _really_ didn't know he could do that." Takuma said weakly. "…Sorry?"

The tutor huffed furiously and declared lessons over for the day before swiftly striding out, her posture tense and expression strained.

The second the door closed after her, the dove was back and the sword gone. Takuma stroked it gently, frowning. "What happened? You were a bit overdone there." He paused. "Even though it was cool. You're very special, aren't you?"

The dove cooed innocently and cocked its head. Takuma laughed softly. "Do you only do that when you feel threatened?"

In reply the dove switched from bird to sword and back to bird once again.

Fascinated, Takuma smiled widely. "Are you usable like that? When you're a sword, I mean. I'm practicing a bit of kendo at the moment."

The dove cooed. It sounded positive. Takuma looked delighted.

Kaname slowly closed the book and headed to his rooms, intent on paying a visit to Yuuki that hadn't been prompted by the chairman for once. He was past exasperation and fully onboard with resignation. He felt there was nothing Zero-san could do to surprise him anymore.

And what had he 'programed' Yuuki's dove to morph into, a death scythe? He thought, only half serious. It would be just as well for Zero-san's warped logic to reason handing an extremely dangerous weapon to a child ignorant of its use was a good idea.

. . .

Kaname stared blankly at the ivory scythe while Yuuki stared up at it in awe. The weapon was even fit to her size, her small hands wrapped firmly around its long handle, light enough to hold up without much exertion. She certainly swung it around with ease.

"I can't wait to show the chairman!" She squeaked excitedly.

Mentally shaking himself out of the pleasantly silent images of him wrapping his hands around Zero-san's slender neck and just _twisting_ (Zero-san was such an _endearingly_ irritating childe at times it was all he could do to keep himself from actually enacting those images), Kaname walked up behind her to gently place his hand over hers to momentarily stop her scythe swinging. "I think it better for you to keep this from the chairman, Yuuki. He might not like for you to be in possession of something potentially dangerous." Well. Not until he was convinced she was of an age to wield it responsibly.

Her wide eyes blinked once and she glanced down at her scythe then back up at him. "You mean he might take Artemis away." Her voice was small and she instinctively held the scythe closer to her chest. "He can't though." She was so sure of herself, of what she was saying, Kaname tilted his head in silent askance. "Artemis will come back to me, even if someone might take him." She smiled, squeezing the handle. "I know it."

He blinked slowly. "Artemis?" He wasn't surprised her attachment to the dove had given birth to a name, but he hadn't expected a child of her age to end up with something as specific as 'Artemis'.

Yuuki looked down, cheeks starting to flush in embarrassment. "We first met at night and he's so white he almost glows, like the moon. I thought it was a pretty name. And..." She chewed at her lips. "And Artemis keeps the scary nights away," she admitted, voice hushed. "When it's hard not remembering, when it's hard waiting for you to visit again, he helps." The scythe reformed from between her curled fingers back into its original appearance to perch on her shoulder, nuzzling her ear, making her giggle. She grinned brightly, dark eyes, so like her mother's, shining. "He tells me things, whispers secrets to me." She leaned in conspiratorially. "He tells me whenever you're coming."

As the chairman's plans to drag him away from whatever he was tending to, to force him to stop by, was spontaneous at best, it was with slightly raised eyebrows he asked, "How so?"

"He always stares at the chairman really hard whenever you're coming. And he follows him around for an hour."

Lips twitching, Kaname nodded. "That must make the chairman fairly unsettled."

"He gets really scared." Yuuki chirped.

"Artemis treats you well?"

"Always!" Then her smile sobered and for a split second, she looked older than her human years, nearly exactly like the sister he grew up with, as she murmured, "He's the same as me."

"How so?" Kaname asked quietly, though he wasn't looking for an answer.

She shrugged unrepentantly, the aged look to her eyes gone with the next blink. "I shouldn't tell."

Kaname nodded again. "As long as you like..._Artemis_ and you feel safe with it."

She sent him a stern frown.

"Him." He corrected. "As long as you feel safe with him."

She beamed.

They were interrupted by a gentle knock. The chairman popped his head in with a smile. "Kaname-kun, a moment? Sorry Yuuki, I promise to return him in a few minutes."

Kaname parted with Yuuki, a smile over his shoulder before leaving the room. "How may I help you chairman?"

Laughing lightly, the chairman closed the door behind them to his study. "It's rather fascinating. I wonder if you had anything to do with the disagreeable half of our little-but-not-really school project suddenly becoming a lot more agreeable." He leaned against the front of his desk on his hands, legs crossed at the ankle. "I was ecstatic, of course! There's nothing better, but they were so uncertain just the other day. It got me thinking."

Kaname's eyes narrowed. "They've consented?"

Both vampires and humans contributing to the Academy were alike in the coveting of their money and wanted to be sure of its success before offering any considerable amount of their monetary support.

The chairman nodded. "You didn't know either then."

Kaname shook his head. "Do you know who might have access to all of them in such short notice?" Someone they all knew that had enough influence to offer a final nail in hammering out a decision...

The chairman's fingernails drummed his desk. "Hard to say. I've a few people in mind, but they're not likely candidates." He smiled wryly. "Persuading a group of hard men to invest in a possibility that might flop over, get minced, quartered, and ripped apart before going up in flames isn't something they do in their spare time. They'd rather do the quartering and burning." He crossed his arms. "Any vampires that might be kind enough?" He asked back.

Kaname sent him a cool smile. "If you truly believe that there really is no hope for you."

"Nothing wrong with hoping." The chairman said. "Should I just treat this as some sort of miracle I can gloat about to Touga? He was so very pessimistic about this. It'd be nice to rub it in his face a little." He sounded gleeful.

"Would you not have managed to 'persuade' them on your own, given the chance?"

"Probably. Yes. But it would've taken years longer. I've been at this since—well, you know." The chairman sighed sheepishly. "It's been a while, and it would've taken another 'while' to get all of them on the same page."

That was undeniable. "How will this...progress affect the rest of your plans?"

The chairman grinned. "Well, you definitely won't have to wait until proper 'high school age' anymore. I'd give it three years or so." He clapped his hands. "It feels a bit surreal, to be honest. I can't believe this is really happening, and so soon. I thought you'd be at least fifteen until this was completed and barely, too."

"You forget vampires hardly look their age." It didn't matter whether he attended the academy at fifteen or fifty. The core purpose of the Night class wasn't to offer education.

"But it's so much better to get that school life experience at the right age. It gets all awkward otherwise." The chairman flapped his hand dismissively. "And I doubt your friends' families will be keen on letting them play along as high school students when they're past being teenagers. It'd be ridiculous."

While that was true, Kaname knew trying to reign in teenaged vampires was going to be a different kind of hell on his patience.

Blond hair and blue eyes came to mind and he inwardly cringed.

"Is there anything else you've been 'wondering' about?"

The chairman started to shake his head, then stopped and smiled. "Actually yes. Have you met someone recently? Maybe in the last month or so?"

Blinking once, Kaname warily shook his head, mechanical and unhurried, out of genuine confusion. It wasn't like the chairman to ask about his personal social circle.

"You're a bit – just a bit, not a lot – more soft-edged than before." The chairman noted. "Less tense. Less miserable. Like your world is still ending, but not so terribly. I assumed you might have met someone who's capable of giving you something Yuuki isn't." He shrugged unrepentantly. "Oh, don't get all glare-y. It's not as though Yuuki's changed in how she interacts with you; it has to be something else.

"Whatever or whoever it is, they have my thanks." He said cheerily. He pointed a mock stern finger at Kaname. "You do know, Yuuki gets concerned for you every time you visit, you're such a wet blanket. She's only six, she shouldn't worry so much."

Despite being aware of the chairman's obvious method of guilt tripping him (using Yuuki against him like that should be outlawed) into being more lighthearted, Kaname still sulked on his ride back to Takuma's home.

If he could will himself out of being a 'wet blanket' he wouldn't be here.

'_Less miserable. Like your world is still ending, but not so terribly.'_

Kaname lowered his brows, eyes straying to the passing landscape beyond the car window.

He felt just the same as he always has, including the last month. The chairman was being strange.

. . .

She paused in stroking the head of the level D in her lap and gently cast him aside before looking to the barred window of her cage.

"Hello. You found time for me, then."

Hiou Shizuka smiled as she stood, the silk of her kimono rustling.

"Have you missed me, Zero?"

His body solidifying from the petals fluttering in through the window, Zero leaned in to press his lips to her neck.

"Shizuka." He whispered.

. . .

Thank you for reading!

After rewriting/changing this thing for the third time, I supposed it was time to let it go ^^;


	7. Chapter 7

_Inescapable_

Part VI

"_Our silly Founder won't stay asleep forever, I'm afraid."_

. . .

He had grown some, Shizuka privately mused, studying Zero's face. He'd been a boy then, with looks to match. Now he'd physically gained a few years on him in the last couple thousands years she hadn't seen him. She'd felt his arrival long before he made it to her prison cell, but he'd wanted her to feel him coming, he was polite in that, despite himself.

"_Have you missed me, Zero?"_

There could be any number of reasons tacked onto his visit, none which had any relation to her teasing remark. It did beg the question of why he would make himself known to her. Risking exposure so soon after his hibernation wasn't like him. And 'exposure' was the word, for only a small fraction of the already small number of pureblood vampires knew he was 'free'. There was no need to mention the advantages that came with being able to get out of hibernating for thousands of years without a scratch. Most of the vampires who'd known Zero then were dead and the remaining few that weren't couldn't care less what Zero did with his freedom.

"_Shizuka._"

The way he called her name suggested he wasn't entirely here for leisure, but it wasn't all business either. And the kiss. She smiled. What nostalgia. Even most purebloods had foregone the tradition, deeming it too impractical when lips or any surface of the face was so much easier to reach. But those who did forego it were ignorant of the actual meaning behind the gesture. Kisses at ones throat as a greeting for a vampire meant trust – to trust another vampire close enough to an openly vulnerable part of their body. For purebloods, the sentiment naturally tended to extend towards family members; and the nobles, who had long since forgotten such tradition, simply misinterpreted it as another 'pureblood quirk shared exclusively for family'.

For Shizuka, allowing the kiss at her throat was a tribute to Zero and her sickeningly long history. Formality tended to take a back seat after knowing each other for thousands of years.

"No. You knew my sire well."

Shizuka snorted. His insensitive bluntness hadn't changed at all. "So nice of you to state the only reason you came to see me was to wax poetic about your Kaname. I knew him, but you know I hated him. He was the most unpleasant of us."

Zero's Kuran Kaname had been the happiest pureblood vampire Shizuka had ever met and probably ever will meet.

What with the 'fate' of most purebloods, Kaname's was an anomaly in comparison. There was never a time she'd seen him without an honest smile. What he could have to smile for so often she'd had no idea. He could rub humans and vampires alike in all the wrong ways without uttering a single word, especially for those who couldn't tell if his pleasant demeanor was feigned or not.

Because while people naturally gravitate towards those who are warm, who spread laughter and kindness, they are also wary of those who are perpetually happy, they start to think it might not be genuine at all.

Shizuka had known it _was_ genuine (everything, everything) and was therefore all the more irritated with him. What right did he have, to be so _unremarkable_ amongst their population, seemingly not a twisted bone in his body? Considering his older brother was just like any one of them, it was a wonder how he turned out the way he did.

Then he met and took in Zero as his child, and she began to see whom he really was. Selfish. Overprotective. Obsessive. Manic. He denied himself nothing and gave away what he wanted, dancing to his own incomprehensible rhythm, caring not a whit for whose toes he might crush or partners he might steal. There was a price others paid for his contentedness.

Even so, Kaname was a hateful little thing. She was sure every person he'd met had entertained the thought of slapping that smile off his face at least once.

Just remembering his expression was making her itch.

"You seem quite fine now, with your little lord. He's kept you busy." Too busy for reminiscence. "You wouldn't gain anything by dredging up the dead." She knew_ that_ too well.

Zero's eyes, uncannily similar to her own, turned speculative. "You've lost like I've lost." He suddenly murmured. His insight hadn't changed either, nor the timing of it.

"Haruhiko." She offered absently. The first human she had turned and loved. And lost. The rest after him, like the one idling away at the corner of her cell this very moment, were just there to fill the boredom.

Zero repeated the name after her, testing its sounds, its meaning, its depth, before giving her a look of such utter understanding, she wanted to claw his face off.

"And you," she asked, "What is it like, having to call your little lord by your sire's name?" She wouldn't be able to stand having to use Haruhiko's name on someone else. Haruhiko was Haruhiko. Though granted, little Kaname, aside from the shade of his hair and eyes, shared very few traits, physical or otherwise, with Zero's sire, who's charm came mostly from boyish handsomeness and infuriating self-indulgence rather than the delicate china doll looks little Kaname was saddled with.

"He isn't the same Kaname."

Quick to answer, but his voice was firm.

"Do you love him as you did your Kaname?" Obviously not, but she asked anyway. No one quite measured up the way Zero's sire did.

When he fell silent, she smiled. Finally, some hesitation. It'd do him well to be less certain.

He actually looked conflicted, how cute. "Regardless, isn't he a lucky little lord, with you as his knight." She cupped his cheek. "Would a child know how to use you?"

His eyes flashed red. "He isn't a child." He mildly scolded.

Ah. "You know about that, then." The empty coffin of the Founder sitting at the bottom of Kuran manor; empty for neigh on ten years. "Your little lord is nine." Almost ten. A surprising number of vampires couldn't tell little Kaname for who he really was. "Did you find out how?"

"...Rido."

"Yes, the only vampire your Kaname actively disliked." Shizuka said dryly.

There had seemingly been no explanation for Kaname's…rejection of Rido when he so adored Haruka and Juri until it was, as the stories say, too late. Most had (foolishly) attributed it to Haruka's far sweeter nature. Funny, how whimsy frivolous Kaname had seen everything (Rido, Haruka, Juri, the council, the hunters, the useless nobles) while people around him carried on like idiot drones. Kaname had prepared. Not for potentiality, but for inevitability.

"How do you think I ended up here?"

Zero looked around her prison for the first time since entering it. Sweeping his attention from side to side, up to down, it was a careless gesture. She didn't react when his eyes went right over the level D slouched in the corner, as though it didn't exist. Its presence didn't register as a sentient being. It might as well be an inanimate object to him. He was simply acting on what Kaname had taught him, but it still made her itch to see it.

Level D vampires... She inwardly sighed bitterly. She was perhaps just biased. Haruhiko was a level D, one she created, and she loved him. But he had no choice but to love her. Kaname, Zero's Kaname, had ignored the existence of level D vampires out of pity and disdain. Not human and not vampire, what were they really? He had said once. Unable to survive without a master, was that a life at all? As someone who naturally took the lead in any situation given to him, the idea of being lead around by the nose like some tamed animal must have been appalling.

"_Shizuka, they don't turn into mad, savage beasts and die because they enjoy it. As it is with many of the things we Make, They are not meant to Be. It's why turning humans against their Will is forbidden."_

He should have made himself out to be a liar by turning Zero, but he differed even in that. Zero wasn't a level D, wasn't going to go mad and die, was 'meant to Be' she quoted wryly (Kuran were prone to dramatics), and would carry on his legacy as an actual child of his blood.

And Zero had never been human, in the truest sense. Raised by a pureblood vampire, so distanced from mortal civilization, Zero had never counted himself as human. He referred to them as a separate species before and after he was turned. The amount of blood he continued to receive from Kaname as he'd grown could be another factor, but by the time vampire society was aware of Kaname's childe, turned or not, Zero couldn't be considered 'human'.

Everyone had felt it the instant they saw him. _He was Kaname's_. Zero must have consumed enough of Kaname's blood it'd saturated his body, every fiber of it, every cell, most had trouble discerning one from the other if not for their appearance. She hadn't even thought of how or why Zero's body was so receptive to Kaname's blood until Kaname had told her of Zero's origins in passing (all the while licking a ridiculous lollipop).

"Kaname needs him to go."

Shizuka started to smile, then stopped and stared. "Whom are you talking about?" She was surprised she needed to ask. She couldn't tell which Kaname Zero was referring to, and she was alarmed at how unsettled that made her.

"Does it matter?"

Did it? "...He still needs to go." She agreed. And that was what brought him here. He needed someone else to push the pieces he was forced to stay away from. "I won't be working for you." It was best to get that out of the way. Things with Zero went smoother if she repaid his honesty with bluntness herself. She wanted Rido gone, but she would get rid of him on her own time, on her terms, without any interference or others motives she couldn't care less for.

"What are you willing to take?"

She smirked and traced the line of his throat with her fingertip with all the subtlety of a rampaging bull.

Zero merely unbuttoned his shirt.

"Your Kaname would have pitched a fit." Zero's sire wouldn't stand for Zero giving or taking blood to and from someone else. Not while he was alive. As far as she knew, only little Kaname was given the privilege.

"I'll take whatever Kaname offers in his place." Zero said noncommittally. She vaguely wondered where his fearless stubbornness came from. After seeing the results of his sire's temper, there weren't a lot that could top his level of destruction, but little Kaname wasn't any less docile. He would know the moment he saw Zero's neck, and the last thing he was going to do was clap in congratulations.

"You do know your little lord is quite the sadist?" Shizuka chuckled before sinking her fangs in.

. . .

Kaname nearly kicked his uninvited bedmate off the bed when he woke to a face full of pale hair. He quickly pulled back and sat up, blinking.

"Zero-san?"

Curled atop his covers like a defensive child, Zero-san slept blissfully away.

"Zero-san..." He sighed. "Please wake up." It wouldn't do to have anyone find out he had another pureblood vampire in his rooms. Sleeping in his bed. With him in it.

When Zero-san refused to stir, he placed his hand at his arm and gently shook him, calling his name again.

What had brought him here, Kaname inwardly frowned. Zero-san usually left it to his extensions to announce his presence, to let Kaname know he was there. It was dangerous for him to come to Ichijou's manor in his original form, much less in person. And he could sense this was Zero-san himself, not an extended part of him.

"Zero-san."

"Nn...?" A sleepy grunt was better than nothing.

"Why are you here?"

Zero-san blinked slowly, like he'd suddenly forgotten how to lift his eyelids, and stared up at him for some time before sighing. "Uh. _Little_ Kaname." There was no mistaking his disappointment.

It wasn't a reaction Kaname was willing to stand for after getting half of his bed hijacked without his permission. He smiled stiffly and repeated his question.

"I wanted to see Kaname."

...How sweet. Why was he not ringing the life out of this ball of irritation yet? It wasn't as though Zero-san would stay 'dead' for long. Perhaps a few minutes, if that, for him to spring back up good as new.

If a certain amount of his anger came from Zero-san expecting to see another Kuran Kaname as he woke, it was a small, near nonexistent percentage.

What did concern him was the likelihood of Zero-san seeing him as a second sire figure or even worse, as his sire himself.

"I'm not your sire, Zero-san," he barely kept from biting out.

The look he got was bemused.

"Please don't ever assume I can fill the role of your sire."

Zero-san's eyes widened before his lips pursed and twitched and he finally let out a soft snort.

Kaname's brows furrowed. "What?"

"I wouldn't insult my sire by replacing him with anyone, much less with you. You're barely suited to." Tugging him back down by the arm, Zero-san nudged Kaname's chin up with his nose and pressed a kiss to his throat.

"Kaname," he said quietly, "you'll always come second, and whatever priority I take to you, I'll never come first, either." Kaname felt Zero-san's head shift as well as the flutter of his eyelashes against his neck as he closed his eyes. "My sire is someone who gave me everything he owned. Promised them to me. He is to me what you are to Kuran Yuuki." His tone seemed to shrug. "It's impossible to see you as anything resembling _my_ sire."

Kaname swallowed, recalling what Yuuki had said to him once regarding Artemis.

"_He's the same as me."_

Leaning back, Kaname allowed for a sharp glare. "You have no way of knowing how I would prioritize you. What if you do come first?" Never mind he had no intention of that happening. No one would come before Yuuki.

Zero-san smiled, small and quick. "You don't have to feel guilty. I'd like another biscuit."

Kaname's expression immediately blanked before turning flat. _Biscuits?_ "I haven't any."

But apparently, he did now. Zero-san pointed to the plastic bag on his nightstand. Inside it was (of course, what else should it be) a container of cookies.

"...You sometimes make very little sense, I hope you realize."

"You know how I like them."

Unfortunately.

"Might I ask is this an acquired taste?" Kaname sat up to retrieve the container and opened it, inspecting the assortment of cookies. Deciding to go with white chocolate and almonds, he swiftly bit into his finger.

They had known each other long enough Kaname felt safe for some gentle prying. Zero-san could be rather open when it came to discussing his past or his sire depending on the subject. It was hard to completely withhold talking about a loved one, whether they were gone or not. Dead or alive, talking about them brought a measure of joy that was unlike anything else. And Zero-san adored his sire, he probably wasn't aware of just how often he tended to mention little details about his time with him. Kaname tried not to find that endearing.

It took Zero-san considerable time to murmur, "I can't eat without it."

He sounded sullen, as though it were an unwanted habit he couldn't quit. Intrigued, Kaname handed him the cookie. "How did your sire deal with your peculiarity?"

Zero-san scowled. "He's the one who got me used to it." He turned the cookie around in his hand. "He gave me his blood with my food. When I tried to eat without it..." He shrugged his left shoulder.

"...If that was what he wanted for you, the blood you consumed would have changed your...constitution to meet his desires." It was his blood, after all.

Nodding, Zero-san bit into the cookie with a light hum.

Kaname decided to take advantage of Zero-san's forthcoming mood to get more answers to long since unvoiced questions. "The first time you tasted my blood, you were surprised."

Turning on his back to look up at Kaname, Zero-san finished chewing before licking his lips clean and replied, "I didn't know you had someone you loved as much you did. You tasted like my sire. The familiarity was comforting."

So that was how he knew about 'priorities'. Just as Zero-san would think of his sire first, he knew Kaname would always think of Yuuki.

Then Zero-san casually turned his head away to gaze absently at the window, attention probably straying to the snowflakes outside, exposing the right side of his throat. Kaname froze.

"Where have you been."

Zero-san continued chewing on his cookie.

Kaname, holding in a sigh, reached out to place his fingers at a specific spot. There was nothing outwardly wrong with Zero-san's neck, the skin was smooth, unblemished, not a mark left, but he still _felt it_.

"With whom have you been?"

There was the slightest interruption in the rhythmic movement of his jaw before Zero-san said, "Shizuka." He turned back to look at Kaname. "She kept it gentle."

Hiou Shizuka.

Kaname's small hand came to wrap loosely around Zero-san's neck. He could only cover so much surface area, of course, and he wished, briefly, he weren't so physically young. His thumb rubbed deliberate circles on where twin puncture marks would have been had they not healed over.

_Hiou Shizuka._

"She said you'd be angry…" Zero-san added; daring to look dumbfounded at the accuracy of her deductions, his pale eyes fractionally wider.

"Why would she lie?"

"…You are?" He did nothing to dislodge Kaname's hand from his throat.

"Don't be obtuse," Kaname snapped. "Do you go about offering your neck to whoever is interested?" Had he no sense of self-preservation? Was he still looking to waste his life?

"Shizuka is different."

Different is she?

Kaname's face must have spoken his thoughts for him; Zero-san lowered his eyes, petulant and contrite. Or he made a perfection imitation of it. He wasn't going to deny he'd let her take his blood, but he wasn't sorry about it.

The temperature in the room literally lowered a few degrees. Zero-san looked back up at him steadily.

"If your sire was anything like how I imagine him to be, he wouldn't have allowed for this."

Zero-san shook his head.

"I have difficulties understanding why you think I would."

Zero-san smiled. "What's my punishment to be?"

"Nothing if you're to enjoy whatever I assign you." How had his sire kept him in line?

Taking the last bite of his spiced treat, Zero-san swallowed it down, Kaname feeling the movement under his hand. He ran his fingertips down the side of Zero-san's white neck, the side untainted by Shizuka's fangs. He could see the blood pumping underneath his skin, hear it running in his veins.

"Are you forcing me into marking where you're not to be touched?" He intoned.

Zero-san hardly seemed to mind the threat. "Don't make it dull. No orchids."

Kaname paused and then smiled. "You've taken a liking to the sparrow I sent you." Zero-san obviously didn't mind having more reminders of Kaname placed on his person, he would hardly see any mark from Kaname as the show of ownership it was intended to be. He didn't have to keep the sparrow with him, but there it still was, nestled on the curve of his ear, its onyx color unchanged, standing out starkly against the pale strands of his hair.

"…It's yours." Zero-san said simply.

Because it was his.

Kaname closed his eyes and covered the left side of Zero-san's neck with his palm.

"No roses either."

He laughed softly. "You've found me out."

When he lifted his hand, Zero-san frowned. "Feels like an eight-petal flower." His tone implied just what he thought of flowers being anywhere on his body.

"You have an affinity for birds." Kaname murmured. "Fragile freedom." Wings. Protection. Choice. What Zero-san's sire had cultivated in him.

Curled in a circular form, the silhouette of a stylized bird kept vigilance over what Kaname couldn't. He hadn't mapped out how large the mark would be, but it nearly reached Zero-san's collarbone. Its pale lilac color, a deliberate, if faint resemblance to Zero-san's eyes, worked to mostly blend in with his skin.

"He'll have sharp feathers waiting to spread for whoever invites themselves to your neck." Kaname said, tracing the mark with his fingers.

Zero-san cupped the back of his head to pull him down for another kiss at his throat.

There were times Kaname wondered if there were any deeper meaning behind Zero-san's every kiss, and this was one of them. It was easy to discern whether one was out of gratitude, greeting, or farewell, but these, spontaneous and unhurried, left him uncertain. Zero-san couldn't be thanking him for the mark, it was completely unnecessary, and no pureblood would thank another for a mark so blatantly blazing with ownership. Kaname was dangerously possessive, but Zero-san no doubt was well aware of that. There had been no resistance from him, surprise or hesitance, just acceptance of terms in order to sate Kaname's tempestuous inner vampire.

He had also initially assumed Zero-san wasn't tactile – he was reserved and he only spoke when spoken to. But the kisses, those were frequent and naturally given, as though in place of tight hugs, loud laughter, and warm exclamations of affection. Having observed Takuma and Yuuki's doves and the way Zero-san himself interacted with Takuma on the few chances he had had the opportunity, Zero-san had several extremes when regarding another person. They were friend, no friend, or an enemy. Adoration, indifference, and open hostility.

"I can hear you thinking." Zero-san brushed stray locks out of Kaname's eyes, the back of his fingers tickling his cheek as he tucked them behind his ear. "It's annoyingly loud."

Kaname let out a breath that was half amused, half exasperated. "Is that your way of showing concern?"

"Yes." Zero-san pressed the pad of his thumb between Kaname's brows. "Whatever you're second-guessing, there's no need."

Kaname felt something in him soften even if Zero-san was offering reassurances on something he had no idea about. "…Thank you."

"Mm." Zero-san murmured before settling further into the bed, nuzzling the pillow he'd shared with Kaname as he closed his eyes.

Kaname blinked and opened his mouth before closing it, waving his hand at his door to place a generic ward that would alert him if anyone came near. It was seldom he had the chance to see Zero-san asleep, so close.

. . .

O.M.A.K.E.

More than used to waking to Zero-san's dove and its affectionate hair picking, Kaname let it be while he oriented himself from sleep. When the dove landed back on his chest, he absently ran a hand down its back, giving it a distracted smile.

"He does that every morning?" Voice heavy with sleep, Zero-san frowned at his extension.

"Yes." Kaname answered amusedly.

Zero-san's frown deepened. He reached over and poked the bird in its side, enough to make it toddle a few steps. The bird paid him no heed, settling back down as though it was right where it belonged. "Hey," Zero-san said softly. "I never told you to bother him like that. Every morning."

Kaname chuckled quietly. "It's fine."

The bird spared Zero-san a glance before going back to staring at Kaname. Zero-san scowled. "No you're not." He muttered.

"You have arguments with your extensions?" How mad was that?

"He's being an idiot."

"He's perfectly pleasant."

The dove preened.

Zero-san tried to poke it again, but the dove cooed and flew off, most likely back to Takuma.

"What was it telling you?"

"Lies."

Kaname huffed a laugh. "I don't think so."

"He said he was only doing what I would if I were actually here."

Kaname blinked then smiled. "If your extension says so, it must be true."

Zero-san leveled a disgruntled, but no less intense stare at him before averting his eyes, looking disconcerted. His lips tightened and he determinedly turned back, pushing himself up to lean over and press a kiss to Kaname's throat.

"Maybe."

. . .

Think that's it for now, thanks for reading guys! :D


End file.
